Bands like these aren’t born overnight. Suffer Like G Did were, as all meaningful groups are, united by a mutual adoration and core understanding of instrumentation, groove, and melody, during the twilight hours spent listening to Michael Jackson, Meshuggah, First Aid Kit, Interpol, The Mercury Program, Deftones and others.

The Orange EP, also, has been years in the making, despite being recorded in a handful of snatched hours. Yet while SLGD have carried these songs for longer than they’d have wanted, they’ve used the time to their advantage. Having had the pleasure of witnessing these tracks live over a dozen times now, I’m yet to hear the same version twice.

They’ve been able to craft a unique, modern persona within their sound – one which is meticulous yet free flowing. It’s music for music lovers, yes, but without the busyness of a haughty vocalist the listener is instead invited to consider intricacies that unfold further with every listen. Like a good book, the true nature is only revealed to those who commit beyond the cover; depth which cannot be fully summarised by a few synoptic lines or rave reviews (and still I try).

Their acumen is there for all to hear, and it hasn’t happened by chance. The devotion and contemplation behind each note, each transition, each dynamic ebb and flow, has been diligently crafted with output in mind; the sum of all parts amalgamating to create a solid, vital whole.

On record this is palpable, however, the live set they’ve honed is admirable within its own right – leasing new life into the already vibrant melodies, igniting fresh energy into the electricity of their sound.

Golden Capital A races in with surefire vitality, keen to draw you closer with its allure, never boastful when it inevitably does. Bring Me The First Aid Kit too carries with it an inherent swagger; its first half acting as a spring frolic before the second sweeps in seamlessly, crisp as fall. There’s some true beauty to behold between the guitars, some real skill behind the bass, and few earthly words to describe the man on the kit.

Completing Orange‘s ménage à trois is Reload! Reload! – a relic – one of the earliest written but still Tupperware-fresh on record.

As an accompaniment to Orange (pressed, printed, and distributed via their own label, Bwains), the Suffer invited others to reimagine their work by making the track stems available online. It was an invitation received with justifiably results. This alone demonstrates the diverse and welcoming nature of their tone; instead of alienating others by binding to genre, there is instead a sense of community and collective, and an inherent respect within that.

Suffer Like G Did’s debut album draws nearer.