Waxahatchee follows the breathrough album “Out In The Storm” with this nearly solo piano laden record of older songs from her former band. Waxahatchee is essentially Katie Crutchfield and on this 6 song EP she shows it.

These songs are dusted off from her previous band Great Thunder (hence the clever name of the album) and are rerecorded to fit the Waxahatchee mold and they work well. It is a stark departure from most of the harder indie rock you’ll find on “Out In The Storm” but is very similar to other songs on that record like “Sparks Fly.” On this EP the star is the song “Chapel of Pines” without a doubt. Crutchfield’s personal accounts are her selling point in her music and this is no different, it seems even more intimate with the lonely keyboard notes. On “You Left Me With An Ocean” you can feel the heartbreak through the somber music and on “Takes So Much” you’ll be reminded why she is such an indie darling. While she howls “Take it out on me baby” on that final track it is difficult not to feel the connection to the songwriter.

This EP is a great diversion from the last record and these songs work very well together. These song would be hard to work into an album with blasting songs like “Sliver” (assuming that is still in Waxahatchee’s future direction) but as a group here will clearly be an essential part of the band’s catalog.

Key Tracks: “Chapel Of Pines” “Takes So Much” “Singer’s No Star”