CD of The Week

Following the split of beloved Philly band Cayetana, singer/guitarist Augusta Koch kept making music alongside her partner Matt Schimelfenig of Two Man Cannon as Gladie. With numerous EPs and two full-lengths under their belt, Gladie have released their third album, No Need to Be Lonely, as Koch explores relationships and connections with friends, family, and loved ones from a variety of open-hearted angles.

The couple at the heart of Gladie have been backed by a variety of musicians since the band started and are joined on No Need to Be Lonely by drummer Miles Ziskind, bassist Evan Demianczyk, and multi-instrumentalist Liz Parsons. The album was produced by their long-time pal Jeff Rosenstock.

Koch is grappling with big emotions throughout these songs and you can feel it in her instantly recognizable, raspy voice. There’s so much fight and hope and drive in her singing throughout, bolstered by big, crunchy guitar riffs.

On “Brace Yourself,” she sings of caring for a suffering friend, reminiscing about “when we used to sit on the couch and talk shit like we used to” but now, “I brace myself to embrace you, to face you, to hear your voice.” She vows to make the most of life in the wake of this situation, declaring, “I won't hold back a compliment/ I'll be careful with how my time is spent."

Augusta says lead single “Car Alarm” is about “reckoning with the feelings that come up living in a reality and world that was envisioned without humanity at its core.” “Talk Past Each Other” documents a communication breakdown, while the high-energy “I Want That for You” gives us the album title. The bashing “Future Spring” fights back against the darkness surrounding us as well, picking up a friend who is letting the awfulness of the world bring them down. Koch asks, “What keeps you quiet? What keeps you small? Why do you give them power when they don’t care at all?” Joining on backing vocals are a chorus of friends, including Rosenstock and Koch’s old Cayetana cohorts Allegra Anka and Kelly Olsen.

“Fix Her” begins as a slow shuffle over a simple keyboard til the very end, when the band crashes in as Koch repeats the mantra “I can’t fix her but I can fix me if I try.” “Poison” is a rollicking rocker while “I Will If You Will” changes tempos, slowing things down into a twangy country feel that evolves into a brief duet between Augusta and Matt.

No Need to Be Lonely closes with the gentler track “Undoing,” as Koch repeats “nostalgia’s just fool’s gold” as she tries to push past negative self-talk and looking back on “feeding wins to the critic in my mind.”

On No Need to Be Lonely, Gladie further stake their claim as one of the strongest bands in the Philly music scene today, taking a stand against depression and these dark times as they remind us there’s no need to be lonely when we’re all in this together.

Gladie will play a hometown show at the First Unitarian Church with Noun opening up on May 9th.