Roughly a year ago, Crash Cadet decided to trumpet the call of an oncoming summer with the release of their second album, Crash Cadet II. It landed on our laps during a time of great confusion, fear and denial as we all stared down a summer spent indoors binging TV shows and learning how to bake sourdough bread. The album reminded us what a proper summer feels like, and reassured us that a normality would again be achieved. A year later and we’re still not there, but we’re a lot closer, and Crash Cadet’s third album, Crash Cadet 3, provides some brief back-up comfort that we might get to enjoy at least some summer this year. Crash Cadet – the solo project of Josh Rathbun – gifts us with a sweet little release that acts as a well-rounded 21-minute album to guide the listener into a breezy summer mood.
Crash Cadet 3 is, intentionally or not, sectioned off into halves, with the first half graced by faster tempos and more determined music. The opener “Steps Never Taken” nails the album’s musical mission statement by combining groovy guitar licks and busy drums with a laidback feel, without having any element oppose another. The result is a fun song with a strong psych-influenced undercurrent to it, courtesy of some rhythm guitar from Tuan Trieu. The follow-up “Sick of the Dishes” leans far more into this, utilizing a heavy, fuzzy guitar and more of a straight rock rhythm. Rathbun has used some heavy guitar lines like this before, a great back-pocket card kept to diversify his music. Lyrically it’s not exactly upbeat, dealing with COVID and the ongoing demise of the planet with people too focused on minute politics rather than environmental issues, but musically it feels somewhat complemented, as the track is still very addictive. “The Lee of the Stone,” the third track, feels similar to the opener in that it matches some kinetic individual rhythms with a more relaxed, breezy tone overall. This inherently contradictory combination somehow works, as the song is both easily digestible and fun to pick apart piece by piece.
The album’s back half takes a much calmer approach than the front. The fourth track “Slow Down” takes the title literally, as it grinds the album down to a slower pace. It might be the biggest outlier on the album, with a more lounge-like rhythm and a heavier focus on the lyrics and vocals. It’s a bit of an abrupt shift, but it helps to keep the album well-rounded. “Real Thing Coming” feels prescient, with lyrics about the ongoing virus that is already affecting our summers. The addition of a ukulele and some woodwind help to make this a standout song, as well as some more characteristically fun guitar work and urgent percussion. The finale, “Summer Rain,” feels like a proper send-off for this album. With a spoken-word intro by Rathbun and friend Bethany Miner, it deals with the pains of a summer fling drawing to a close. It’s slower than anything that precedes it, serving as a way to wind down from the engaging, borderline psych-rock that dominated five songs.
As with his previous album, this collection feels like the entirety of summer boiled down into a brief runtime. The first half is the breezy, no-care attitude of early summer while the back half deals with the demise of the weather and the turn into the more challenging seasons. The closer, literally titled “Summer Rain,” acts as the nostalgia you may feel at the end of a great season, already longing for the carefree nights that have only just ended. And lyrically, this album holds a lot of frustration to it, especially at the current state of the world. But it also remains a very peaceful album, with many frantic rhythms and chilled vibes converging with each other instead of against. It’s the perfect album to fulfill any summer need. Crash Cadet 3 can be streamed below, and Rathbun hopes to play a show somewhere by season’s end.