New York City self-proclaimed alternative rock band The Workers recently released an EP entitled Totem. Its three tracks– the opening “Death Race”, “Boomerang”, and “Big Time”, all reflect a certain dark wistful energy. They all also are simple while featuring intricate instrumentation by its seven member band: Dan Greenwald (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Will Hensley (electric guitar and pedal steel guitar), Doug Garnett (electric guitar, keyboard), Jesse Terry (backup vocals), Juliana Riccardi (backup vocals), Jeremy McDonald (bass), and Jacob Cohen (drums).

“Death Race”, a pop rock song about the dangers of driving, features guitar solos that demonstrate talent both in composition and playing. The melody in “Boomerang” is a little repetitive but in a soothing way. Interestingly enough, Greenwald doesn’t quite sing throughout the track, but one cannot say that it is a spoken word track. Rather, he sounds like a mad scientist that starts singing a song only to focus on the lyrics. “Big Time” features acoustic guitars accompanying emotion laden vocals.

Totem is a well performed EP that will whet the appetite of lovers of the genre. More information is available on the band’s website; the EP can be streamed on Bandcamp.

Pictures provided by Independent Music Promotions.  First published on Blogcritics.