Update: In February of last year, the local indie rock band Learning Curve recorded its new album, Centerpiece. The band had planned to play a release party at Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood, but the pandemic hit, and the group had to scrap those plans.
“[The album] is essentially a culmination of our first year as an active
band and surreal to finally be putting it out there a year later,” says band leader Erick Smyczek when asked about the EP, which just came out today. “A lot of the themes on the EP come from a personal place of struggling with internal conflicts and overcoming self sabotage. We're always hardest on ourselves, as they say.”
If Warped Tour were still a going concern, these guys would fit in perfectly. The album's Blink-182 title track features ringing guitars and shows off the band's pop sensibilities, and "SpeakEasy," another highlight, capably veers into emo-punk territory.
Original Post 3/26/2021: A few years ago, an acoustic project helmed by local singer-guitarist Erick Smyczek morphed into the indie rock act Learning Curve after Smyczek met drummer Alex Christian.
"One laid back practice later, and they knew their musical chemistry was special," reads a press release about the duo that went on to record and release its first single, “Chatterbox,” with producer Steve Perrino (Sonder Bombs, Heart Attack Man, Envoi).
"Chatterbox” garnered a thousand plays on streaming services in just a few short months, and the band hit the local circuit, playing venues such as the Grog Shop, Mahalls 20 Lanes and the now-shuttered Phantasy.
Learning Curve has teamed up with Perrino once again to record its debut EP, Centerpiece, and the group has just released a music video for the feel-good Weezer-like single "Crack a Smile."
The EP is due out next month.
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