Orange Doors has an orchestral yet crunchy sound.

Full of grungy-anthemic guitar solos, quaint hand percussion, a wall of sound a-la-high-step-brass, listeners never know which flavor of genre is coming at them next. This 5-piece group from South Carolina is made up of former marching band students–No wonder their palette of sound is described as being ‘limitless’!

Let’s take it from track 1: “We Built a Slide”. It’s percussive, math-rocky. Think: Queens of the Stone Age meets Giraffes? Giraffes!

There are little moments of Güiro, as dissonant sonic waves crash against land. This rises into a guitar-brass motif, which is slightly southern, twangy, and… unsettling. And was that a hint of metal we heard?! It is grooving, wonky-rock inside a dreamworld– A treat for the playful intellectual to consume.

The most poignant moment in the opener is when the lead guitar takes on a vocal-esque quality that matches that of the singers. The swinging, topsy-turvy track coalesces into a placid soundscape. Somewhere between the metric modulation and orchestration, we find “The stitching of the sky”. By the end of the tune, listeners wake up, hypnagogic. This turns into “Gizmo Gadget”, its alluring dry vocals make it feel like someone is singing in our ear. A breeze of Reel Big Fish style ska-punk comes through, transforms into lush vox harmonies, and glitches out…

The midway point, “Cat Up a Tree,” pulls in the curtains, darkening the room… Those deep toms contrast against eerie legato vocal oo’s and bright string plucks. Here, the group’s Radiohead influence shines through like early morning light through the blinds.

Then “Infection” showcases the essence of grunge: a dug-up root, raw, from the garden (mud still on). The earwormish chorus talks of a visceral scene. A bug in one’s mouth, the feeling of spitting it out. In the video, the cake from the EP cover moves, anthropomorphically singing the lyrics. The mantra that arises (“And I won’t forget my name”) is simultaneously ethereal and sobering. We realize the sun will fade all things with time.

Making our way to “A Crack and a Peep,” we keep that dark grunge flavor, although the vocals have taken on a new hue, with their delectable airy distortion. A shuffle-ish drum pattern emerges, and soon after, metrical lyrics overspill from the cup. With The Orange Doors? Prog-rock whirlpools can turn into brass gustnados or lyrical poetry with the flip of a switch.

Finally, “Kickball,” and it’s much gentler than the game we knew as children! A melancholic acoustic guitar spurs on deep bass, legato strings, and balladic vocals. With the raw echoes likened to an Alex G out-take, blended with the emotional depth of a 1990’s torch song.

This is the most psychedelic track on the EP; as we soak in our insignificance as a blip in the universe, we find peace inside those waves of subjective reality.

<a href="https://orangedoors.bandcamp.com/album/corn-planet">Corn Planet by Orange Doors</a>

“Corn Planet is a place is of joy, curiosity, mystery, adventure and nostalgia.”

How did you all first meet…Was it in marching band?

Jackson and I first met in gym class in the 9th grade, equally passing the time by throwing kickballs at the coach.

What instruments did each of you play back then, and what do you play now?

Back then we only played a dinky acoustic guitar and whatever the band would let us bring home. Now Jackson plays tuba, baritone, trombone, euphonium, mellophone, and slide trumpet. I also picked up drums in that time!

What kind of a place is Corn Planet, to you?

Corn Planet is a place is of joy, curiosity, mystery, adventure and nostalgia.

What new flavors did McPhun and Smith bring to the table for this EP?

Well for one they widened the crap out of it. Compared to the demos these songs sound huge and that’s all Ryan and Bevan. Ryan’s choice of panning, reverb, delay, and all around arrangement of the individual tracks in each song really encapsulated what we wanted with this EP.

Something about this EP feels full of childlike wonder…The names of the tunes and the breadth of the genre. Was this intentional?

Very intentional and we’re so glad you picked up on it. We like to think those touches are what make us..us .

Did you incorporate any unexpected background sounds in this release, as you did in Slaphappy?

Yes not unlike slaphappy, there are probably hundreds of field recordings scattered across the EP. Another form of layer we always like to use when called for.

Lastly, is this EP a concept album or a chronological storyline? If so, what motif and or tale does it tell?

This EP is if anything a concept album. No overarching story to tell throughout but each song is a story in itself.

Headline photo: Orange Doors (Photo by Ameliarhea Photography)

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