Max Steffan, otherwise known as Bread Clip, self-produces what he calls “avant-garde Atlantic power pop” from his bedroom in St. John’s.
If Bread Clip’s recent EP, No Matter The Time, is any indication, avant-garde Atlantic power pop might be my new favourite subgenre.
If you don’t know, power pop essentially signifies “immediacy,” and “catchy choruses, chiming guitars, and hooks that refuse to leave your head.”
Pioneers of the genre are often described as ‘Beatlesque,’ though many bands and artists draw from other diverse influences.
Bread Clip leans significantly more lo-fi than power pop heavy hitters like Big Star and Jellyfish, but Steffan’s endearing DIY musicality is warmly welcomed on any playlist.
With captivating sound design that can be likened to bands like Radiator Hospital, Girlpool, This is Lorelai, and, I would argue, of Montreal’s earlier, more stripped back projects like Cherry Peel, Bread Clip offers listeners another ever-charming 4-song EP.
In the few years I’ve followed Bread Clip’s music career, I’m repeatedly amazed at the maturation of Steffan’s sound and how he captures coming of age in song.
Perhaps more lo-fi, DIY-forward genres indicate this feeling due to their accessibility, but regardless, Bread Clip’s bedroom recordings practice a degree of sincerity evocative of the clumsy realities of growing up.
This book I was obsessed with as a young teenager had a conversation between two characters about how we are “accumulating new selves all the time,” and how one person can be made up of fragments of a lot of people, or marks left on them by relationships, good or bad.
One character proposes that “each new self stands on the last one’s shoulders until we’re these wobbly people poles.”
Bread Clip’s music reminds me of this concept, in the way he lyrically captures interpersonal relationships.
He has a whimsical air of both acceptance and indifference, and an aim to find joy in mundanity, while acknowledging that we often define ourselves in terms of other people.
The tracks “Idle Way” and “Yr Eyes” really instill this feeling, and the fact that they sound absolutely fantastic certainly doesn’t hurt.
Something compelling about the project, even outside of the subgenres, influences, and narratives carried throughout the EP, is Bread Clip’s recording process. He recorded the EP on a compact 8-track recorder.
This digital/analog recording device contributes to creating pleasing lo-fi sounds. 8 tracks are not as commonly used in contemporary recording.
It’s great to see audio technology companies revitalizing older products, maintaining the majority of analog qualities, albeit with a few updated features for ease of use.
Major props should be extended to indie/DIY artists, like Bread Clip, who are rekindling more ‘retro’ technology and taking their time with their art – especially during our insatiably fast-paced and highly digital current moment.
I’ve yet to hear a Bread Clip project I didn’t love, but with No Matter The Time, Steffan has mastered intricate subtleties that elevate his music further.
The EP balances jangly, lo-fi sounds without veering into gratuitously abrasive or messy territory, and it has an awkward, yet playful vibe that contributes to its relatability and listenability.
