Guest Room Status is a four-piece Emo band from Ottawa, Ontario that blends elements from Emo, Pop Punk and Math Rock into a refreshing and exciting sound, uniquely their own.
The band comprises Liam Leonard and Dave Monk on vocals and guitar, Peter Gunn on drums (and a little bit of vocals), and Ryan “Wooly” Woolcock on bass. The group took inspiration from bands such as Modern Baseball and The Hotelier, which led them to begin exploring the idea of writing original music, bringing them to where they are today.
Now, Guest Room Status are up to bat with their second EP titled “Like the Weather”: A five-song EP that features the band’s latest and greatest tunes, alongside the previously released songs “By Now” and “Past Tense”; the latter of which was released with a stunning music video.
Out of the gate, the EP launches into the track “Self-Titled”, a song that begins with a fun bouncy riff before exploding into a ripping emo rager that sinks its claws into you and doesn’t let go until the song is over. The lyrics of “Self-titled” are as poetic as they are thematic, dealing with feelings of unbelonging and uncertainty, as shown in the line: “Your home’s where my heart is, but not for much longer.”.
Up next is the previously released “Past Tense”. The track tackles the reality of when your relationship with someone has changed or been severed entirely. The track is vague enough to allow the listener to fill in the gaps with their own experiences, be it a breakup or someone passing away. With gut-wrenching lyrics such as “You are- I mean you were- a present to this world,” it’s clear that each line of this incredibly catchy song is thoughtful and well-planned out.
The halfway point of this EP comes in the form of “Departures”. A heavy track both in terms of musicality as well as subject matter. This song seems to take a more direct approach at demonstrating loss. The storyline is about knowing you don’t have much time left with someone and then dealing with the feelings that come after they’ve gone; this track does not shy away from vulnerability and honesty. These themes have always been a staple of Alt genres such as Emo, and it is displayed fearlessly on “Departures”.
With a more twinkly and tapping math rock sound, we have the incredibly illustrative “Gallery”: A melancholic song whose lyrics take us through a gallery dedicated to the song’s unnamed subject. However, in line with the project’s ongoing theme, the song deals with what happens when the endeared subject is no longer around. The lines “Now all that’s left in view, a gallery of you, all that’s left to see, a haunted gallery,” bring up a harsh truth about loss, namely the instability of comfort and familiarity. When something that was once constant disappears, it’s easy to feel as though you’re haunted by what was once there.
Closing out the project is the previously released “By Now.” The choice to put this song at the end of the project, either intentionally or unintentionally, was a wonderful narrative decision. The track deals with handling thoughts of where you should be by now if you had done things differently, which is quite fitting after the previous 13 minutes of reflecting on life and loss. The track feels like a final meditation on the previous four tracks’ overall messages. Where would you be by now had you done things differently, or said the things you wish you had? With the final lines of the song and EP being “Patterns surrounding, calling me back to the ‘what if’s and what now’s,’ destined to wonder how”, the question of “what now?” is presented to you, the listener and the impact these lines carry cannot be understated.
Guest Room Status have truly shown that the “sophomore slump” is nothing more than something to be laughed off, as the band has created an EP that is emotionally complex, musically proficient and expertly delivered. While some things