The band’s process of crafting their upcoming album “blue meringue” was distinctly collaborative as everything was recorded on a single track.
The band’s process of crafting their upcoming album “blue meringue” was distinctly collaborative as everything was recorded on a single track.
In the basements of Barrington, Ill., an experimental fusion of fifth-wave emo and shoegaze took root. After eight years in Eagle Mountain, Utah, Summer 2000 founder Jacob West returned home and reflected on the “inescapable monotony” that is time.
The perpetually ticking clock embedded itself on the band’s upcoming record “blue meringue,” releasing Oct. 3, which unravels like a diary stitched together by sound.
“This last album — especially lyrically — is as much of a diary of the last year of my life as it is a meditation on the human experience,” West said. “Especially the idea of returning home after a long period away, and the feelings that come along with that.”
Founded in 2020 as a solo endeavor, Summer 2000 gradually expanded into a collaborative project, with former bandmates and childhood friends James Witte-Cook and Kellen Pini joining across successive releases.
The trio has been making music together for over a decade, forming their first emo rock band Poolhouse in the very basement where “blue meringue” was recorded, according to West.
Outside of Summer 2000, the band make emo-adjacent alt-rock music under the name Elder Jack. Their second album “IV” released Aug. 12.
With years of projects and experimentation behind them, the members didn’t seek fame or fortune, staying grounded in their commitment to authenticity. Even with more than 200,000 monthly Spotify listeners and several singles surpassing 1 million streams, their music remains rooted in a carefree ethos and disregard for virality.
“That’s really where it starts and ends with us,” Witte-Cook said. “It’s cool that Jacob’s gotten some publicity and whatnot, or the projects have taken off to whatever degree they have. But it’s really just like, guys being dudes, at the end of the day.”
The band’s growing popularity unfolded gradually online, fueled by social media word-of-mouth despite minimal promotion, according to West.
“For better or for worse, we are in the age of internet musicians right now,” Witte-Cook said. “I don’t think the streaming model financially works for anybody but the top half percent of musicians working now.”
Their unwillingness to conform to industry trends leaves Summer 2000 with a hard to define yet distinctive sound. While traces of influences from Alex G to Sunny Day Real Estate can be heard, the band blends these disparate elements into something unmistakably their own.
Previous albums “John Krasinski” and “Ellie Kemper” — released in 2021 and 2023, respectively — burst with slowcore ballads blending melancholic melodies with layered, reverb-heavy instrumentation.
Their latest LP “blue meringue” was crafted through a distinctly collaborative process, with the band playing live and recording everything onto a single track rather than separately, according to West.
“This one is the first where the majority of it is live tracked,” Witte-Cook said. “So this was a little different in that regard because we had everything basically exactly planned before we hit record on this one, which is not how we usually do it.”
Released Sept. 5, the album’s lead single “lady beetle // cruel stability” is a turbulent blend of angsty screams, arpeggiated synths and the soft twang of guitar riffs.
The rest of the album further hones the band’s earlier explorations while bridging into new avenues. The haunting ambience echoing throughout “Ellie Kemper” rings faintly in the albums midpoint “return:self” while the titular opening track ushers in a subtly indie rock-infused direction.
As independent musicians, they aren’t able to turn their passion into immediate profit. Yet the time spent is not regretted, according to Witte-Cook.
Summer 2000 will headline an album release show Oct. 4 at Ramova Loft, with other indie emo bands Heccra, Daundry and Excuse Me Who Are You? There are currently no future shows planned or confirmed.
“Everyone should make art,” Witte-Cook said. “Not because you’ll go viral or make money off of it, but because that is like an innately human thing to do and it’s beautiful.”
This article was edited Oct. 1.
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