Scrappy Buffalo-based three piece gas station. wrote themselves a full-length. Through a conception and birth, they foisted the 11-song A Collection Of Songs For Saying Goodbye (ACOSFSG) into this world, with just a little bit help from GCR Studio maestro Jay Zubricky and a brand new label in We’re Trying Records. In a world of short-form content and even shorter attention spans, what does it even mean to be a band nowadays, anyway? Is it enough to just be doing something, anything really? Why are we even here!? Does anything really matter? Ask yourself these existential questions with an open mind as you listen through the equally existential ACOSFSG – it’s our album of the week this week.
The album opens with “Perfect Crime Sequel,” a surprisingly tender offering – gas station.’s aesthetic makes them seem like the type of band to pound out big, spunky pop-punk compositions, but this album is full of genuine nuance, sharp melodies, and heartbreaking lyrics. Driven by bass chords from front man and journeyman bassist John Vaughan, “Sequel” keeps things mellow and wry before launching into an explosion of guitar-driven noise, falling somewhere on the spectrum between emo and pop punk… Not too far off (but still its own, distinct flavor) from fellow Buffalonians Del Paxton and/or Super American. Guitarist and co-writer Joe Morganti and drummer Rob Brennan are perfect foils to Vaughan’s emotive vocals – diving in and out of time signatures, and adding a welcome virtuosity… And speaking of Del Paxton, there’s even a trumpet feature from Greg McClure on a few tracks. Nice.
Song two, “Fallen Leaves,” is an absolutely single-worthy song regardless of its mind-melting time signature. “Be careful on the roads, John, they’re caked with ice,” Vaughan sings self-referentially. “Thanks for the advice, but I don’t care if I slide into nothing.” It’s not even winter yet, but if you’re not in the same mental state mid-February, I want whatever keeps you functioning. You’ll find these ear-catching time signatures throughout ACOSFSG, including the McClure-laced “What Gives?” (count to seven). You’ll also find some Turnover-esque songs like “Seconds” and some more straightforward emo flavors like “She Said.” But through and through, what stands out here are Vaughan’s lyrics – a constant reminder of our mortality and impermanence.
Beyond the nimble riffing here (see the tasty leads on “Scattered Sand on Pavement”) there are certainly central themes – love, loss, death, sex. On the sex front – there’s references to foreplay in the aforementioned “Scattered,” a metaphorical wet dream in “Seconds,” and being tempted by rotten fruit in the powerful, penultimate song “Goodbyes.” Digging a bit more will only get darker – “Goddamnit / I don’t wanna die / I just wanna know what it feels like” is the raw, Citizen-esque album outlier, “My Dinner With My Thoughts.” The acoustic-laden “Strawberries in Manhattan” reads like a suicide note – “Who you are is what you’ve done / It’s paradoxical,” examining, ostensibly, the legacies we leave behind, artistic or otherwise.
While the majority of these songs are going to slot comfortably into your ninth wave emo playlist (or whatever wave we’re on now), be sure to give “Goodbyes” a fair listen – Vaughan’s vocals here offset the American Football-esque trumpet in a perfectly autumnal way. It finally feels like fall again – but that’s another theme to tackle another day.
A Collection of Songs For Saying Goodbye is available now (August 29th, 2025) on We’re Trying Records. We’ve embedded the bandcamp link below, where you can order it on wax (vinyl).
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