ALBUM REVIEW: Art History – Perennial

Connecticut trio PERENNIAL focus on the phrase ‘pop art’ for their third album Art History. Ever since their formation in 2015, the trio – electric organist Chelsey Hahn, guitarist Chad Jewett, and drummer Ceej Dioguardi – have been making waves in the music industry thanks to word-of-mouth and relentless touring, and their 20-minute live sets have become a must-see. Art History is the follow-up to their breakout second album, 2022’s In The Midnight Hour, and across twelve songs it sees PERENNIAL embrace the colour and boldness of pop art.

Even though it is only over a minute long, the title track sets the stage for what is to come. It is a frantic, energized and mostly instrumental track that makes the most of the band’s talent. Whilst there are vocals, they are utilised more on the second track Tambourine On Snare. Each of the songs on the album falls between the one and two-minute mark, and a lot of them follow a similar pattern of instrumental intro, vocals, and an instrumental outro.

But the band do still try and make each song sound unique. For example, third track Action Painting is a fast-paced alternative rock song, whereas sixth song Up-tight is a synth-rock song, and How The Ivy Crawls right after that is a heavy alternative rock song with an interlude at the end that smoothly transitions into Tiger Technique, an up-beat guitar-driven rock song. Furthermore, even though the songs are short, none of them sound rushed or unfinished.

Pacing wise, the album is a fast one, obviously. Mouthful Of Bees is an in-your-face punk song that breaks up the formula of how the songs are structured by having the vocals open the song, before focusing on the instruments, whereas B Is For Brutalism is a synth interlude. Whilst it is a shame that the structural formula is only broken towards the end of the album, it is better late than never, and ultimately each of the songs do still have their own unique sound. PERENNIAL are not afraid to experiment with different genres of music, and this keeps the album sounding fresh and exciting while potentially also opening doors for the band going forward.

Overall, Art History shows that PERENNIAL still have a lot up their sleeve when it comes to music. Although there is a formula to how a lot of the songs are structured, the band manage to break from that in the last few songs, and the saving grace is that even within that they do still experiment with different genres. At the end of the day if you’re looking for a fun, fast-paced album to listen to, then this is the one for you.

Rating: 7/10

Art History is out now via Safe Suburban Home.

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