En Garde

'Remember when music sounded good?' Ethan Gruska ponders on the first track off his sophomore album, En Garde.

It's an innocent question with a complex queue of follow-up questions. Gruska grew up in a music-dominated household. As in, his father is an Emmy-nominated composer, his grandfather is award-winning composer John Williams (Star Wars, Indiana Jones), and his sister is a successful drummer who has played live for acts such as Fiona Apple and The Foo Fighters. With all of this pure talent seemingly brimming over in one household, it can be hard to distinguish yourself as as individual far removed from your lineage's successes. Which is exactly what he does on this new album, in no less than twelve self-assured tracks.

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Earmilk