Summer Colds – Missing Out (Album Review)

Nic McNamara, recording as Summer Colds, has unveiled a new eight-track album, Missing Out. The Johannesburg-born musician released his debut album in 2019.

‘Something’s Coming’ starts the proceedings. The track opens with nightclub chatter and laughter, voices commenting on the music ahead of a live performance.

Storywise, the lyrical persona breaks their own moratorium on martyrdom, rejecting the exhaustion of making senseless sacrifices. The song also captures a dual sense of pursuit and anticipation; the persona is retreating from a threat they cannot name while sensing that something is closing in.

Relentless drumming and a weighted, throbbing kick-drum create a dense rhythmic floor, eventually swallowed by a surge of distorted guitars.

Moving away from the philosophical themes and metaphoric language of the first track, ‘All Time High’ focuses on a literal departure. It follows the persona leaving both a town and a person behind, finally breaking free from a presence that constantly weighed them down. The persona envisions a newfound ‘breathing space’ in the wake of this departure – a social sanctuary where he can associate with lowlifes free from judgment. This suggests a yearning for a specific kind of unfiltered, non-judgmental friendship.

Driven by a combination of crunchy guitar and percussion, the song is punctuated by a brief, melodic guitar.

In ‘Shakeout’, the lyrical persona addresses a subject amidst themes of impending separation. The language oscillates between the abstract and the plain, while the singer’s flat, down-to-earth delivery creates a surprising emotional resonance that endears them to the listener.

The instrumentation leans into familiar territory, driven by a foundational mix of driving drums and gritty, crunchy guitars.

The vocal delivery grows more assured on ‘Say It Back’, though the narrative remains just as somber. Addressing either a current or former lover, the persona catalogs a series of grievances, including a vivid scene of them sleeping outside their girlfriend’s home. The theme of friendship resurfaces here, though its role has shifted. While ‘All The Time’ found the persona yearning for the non-judgmental company of lowlifes, the influence of friends in this track serves a different purpose: prompting them to question the validity of his relationship.

While guitar crunch remains the album’s mainstay, in this​ song it is punctuated by the sudden, heavy weight of a brief kick-drum.

A dark undercurrent runs through ‘If You Know’ despite the upbeat veneer of its signature crunch, driving drums, and cheery vocals. The lyrics introduce a heavier stakes, with the persona expressing a desperate need to be saved from ‘being a slave’, once again weaving in the recurring theme of friendship.

‘The Moon’ leans into a fun, conversational narrative. Between stories of drinking and a mutual agreement to disagree, the persona candidly describes themselves as a ‘thorn’ in their partner’s (presumably) side. Musically, the track is defined by a bright synergy of crunch guitar and drums that creates an infectious, upbeat groove.

In ‘Dear Life’, the language is lyrical, if not poetic. The lyrical persona seems to take us to their childhood (climbing through holes). Whatever the case, the persons suggests ending their addressee’s summer blues. The song’s also literary, with the songwriter using creating lines like:

‘And now all I can do is just talk in analogies 

Oh my apologies, always in similes’ 

‘Weak Hands’ is also one of those songs with pleasing crunch and drumming. The vocals are pleasing as well. It’s another unsettling song. Lyrically, you have a persona who tells the addressee that they ‘replace the blood in every vein’. There’s also talk of them decaying. 

The last lines are just as unsettling: ‘What a perfect day to finish slipping / Away from what you wanted to watch / Disintegrate in a fit of rage’. 

SCORE/Excellent: If you’re into heavy drums and crunchy guitars, this latest from Summer Colds is a must-listen. It’s a sonically dense record – about half the tracks really hit the mark for me – balancing aggressive percussion with moments of melodic clarity.

Lyrically, the songs touch on issues such as friendships, a rare thing in music. But there’s a tendency for the songs to lean into dark territories. This perhaps does a good job of disorienting the listener.

The vocals can be a bit hard to catch in the wall of sound, but luckily, Summer Colds included the lyrics so you can follow along with the more complex themes.

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