Following up An Ode to Bad Decisions from 2011, Nashville four-piece band Navaeh released And Then . . . There Was One last fall on Of Redmoth Records in digital form, with a physical release following this past May. Mixed by J. Hall in Nashville and mastered by Brad Blackwood in Memphis, the five-track EP, with with heavy rock riffs but structured melody, is perfect for any Foo Fighters lover.

Band members Andrew Godfrey, Ernest Morris, Brandon Keyser and Jim Chiodo received local honors when the disc’s second track, “Unsatisfied,” was voted a “Buzz Cut of the Week” by Nashville’s 102.9 The Buzz. With heavy, dense instrumentation that grates like a dull razor, the track leads fulfillingly into remaining cuts “Climb,” “Face the Lies” and “Doesn’t Matter.”

But it’s the album’s misleadingly mild and downcast opener, “Let Go” that really perfects And Then . . . There Was One. Introduced with a muted, distorted cry of anguish, the opening song strikes the listener immediately with beautiful, deep and hollow piano notes recalling Smashing Pumpkins at their most introspective; think Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness-esque ballads: pensive, exquisite and vaguely astral.

The situation is dire
and I won’t give up ’til you let go

Learn more about the band at facebook.com/Navaehrocks and listen to And Then . . . There Was One in its entirety at navaeh.bandcamp.com.