Agnosticism - "A Letter Of Resignation" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 179th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at local folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism's newest EP "A Letter Of Resignation"! While this is my first time reviewing an EP from this project (whose only social media account is on Instagram), Agnosticism has released two prior EPs (2021's "Chaotic & Dysfunctional" and 2022's "4 Hours"), plus their sole full length album "Happy Pills" in 2022, as well as numerous one-off singles. Quietly and independently released on February 23rd, "A Letter Of Resignation" was solely recorded by prolific local punk guitarist Mikhal Muto, who is better known from his work with Vanity First & Hails and as the second bassist in The Apocalypse Afterparty. You can stream "A Letter Of Resignation" on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and Boomplay, and if you want to legally buy it on mp3, it costs $4.95 on iTunes.

Song names below are linked to their YouTube copies, and note that Mikhal labelled the album and songs in all lowercase officially. With five songs running for 15½ minutes, let's begin this EP review with its first song "New Year's Revolution"! Tied with track 3 as the EP's shortest song, this is an intense and speedily performed song that fits the folk punk trappings well, but Mikhal does get a slower bridge to show off his guitar skill. Any fears of this not being that "punk" given that it's acoustic and folksy are eradicated with a piercing scream midway through, and his voice in general is a good match for the subgenre, while also having the melodic tone that would suit a mid-2000s emo band if he was of that era (fans of the songs that he sings with Vanity will know that already). I would like cleaner and more professional recording quality, but this is an effective introduction!

Next up is "Just Promise Me You'll Stay A Little Bit Longer", and if you wanted things to be folksier and clearer in a singer/songwriter sense, you should take to this song moreso. Intense vocals do work their way in there in bursts, but this song just moves along on the same track instrumentally with the only variance in the strumming occurring at the very end. Not a bad song for folk punk fans who value the first half of that sound, and it's easier to get a sense of the lyrics here, but the "punk" side of things and the song's repetitive structure don't help compared to the opening song. Third is "Separation Anxiety", which opens with passionate and somewhat anguished vocals from Mikhal before he takes things into fast paced galloping territory, and he dips into Chase Wigmoresque territory with the aggressive vocal bursts here, so fans of his earlier folk punk albums will like what Agnosticism are cooking up here!

If you liked "New Year's Revolution", you'll like "Separation Anxiety", an equally short and similarly intense listen that captures the best qualities of folk punk! That's followed by "Lips", which isn't as varied and punk-leaning as the odd numbered songs so far, but it arguably allows for Mikhal's best guitar showcase so far, and it does have its passionate vocal moments late. It's definitely got more going for it for guitar riffing and melodies than track #2, and while not as chaotic as Agnosticism at their peak, the structure is well paced to let Mikhal demonstrate his guitar ability in an acoustic setting, so it's worth checking out! "A Letter Of Resignation" closes with its longest and only 3+ minute song, "Attic". This is the slowest and most ballad-like track on offer, and the lyrics seem the most personal yet, especially with all of the name dropping. The vocals are the star of the show here, with his guitar seemingly being an afterthought.

You have to be invested in Mikhal's lyrics and/or vocal style to appreciate "Attic", as the guitar isn't the focus here, and while I appreciate the direct lyrics, it has the same problem as the second song for me: going along on one track without shaking things up or playing up the punk in the folk punk on offer. Fans of "Breathe" from the first Vanity demo might beg to differ, but it's not how I'd have ended the EP. So, how do I grade Agnosticism's new EP? I admit that I'm not a folk punk guy, but Mikhal knows and likes the subgenre and it shows on a solid release for fans! I do think that he should focus more on the intense, rollicking folk punk songs like "New Year's Revolution" and "Separation Anxiety", and you will find more songs like those on earlier releases, but you can tell that he wanted to stretch and play some softer material here too, even if this listener didn't like the singular path on most of the other songs as much.

If Mikhal was born in the late 1980s/early 1990s, he'd have been one hell of a emo frontman during that genre's heyday, and his lyrics are very evocative, but on softer/more serious songs, I would try to still have a varied song structure rather than relying on just the lyrics to carry them. I have yet to formally review earlier Agnosticism releases to compare, but folk punk fans will find a lot to like from "A Letter Of Resignation", and hopefully Mikhal ramps up social media promotion for the project to better promote this and other releases, as there is something there! Buy or stream this EP above, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! While I have long stuck by a rule on the SMS that I wouldn't review albums by the same project in consecutive months, two separate bands featuring the same musician have always been fair game, so next month's review will be of Mikhal's main punk band Vanity First's new album "Identity Crisis"!

That album had a higher profile release in April and is currently the last album in our lengthy backlog of new album releases dating back to late 2022, so look for its review on the site next month, and for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!