By: Joseph VanBuren
Rating: 9/11 

For a man whose background lies primarily in the hardcore scene of the late 80‘s and 90‘s, Walter Schreifels has taken a surprising and possibly refreshing turn with his recent solo album, An Open Letter to the Scene. Based mostly around acoustic chords and Schreifels’ melodic voice, the album is light, intimate, and a nice slice of alternative pop any way you cut it. 

A former member of NY hardcore bands like Gorilla Biscuits, CIV, and the semi-successful Quicksand, Walter Schreifels incorporates years of solid songwriting experience into his solo acoustic act. The result is a collection of ten tunes that tickle the eardrums just right in its perfect production. While the music is mellow, a spark of Schreifels’ younger, more aggressive days occasionally shines through, most noticeably in his version of CIV’s “Don’t Gotta Prove It,” a song that he originally wrote. Most of the songs on the album have some kind of percussion in them, but it is often subdued, allowing the man and his guitar to speak loud and clear to the listener. Schreifels comes across as a mature veteran of indie music, one with interesting if complicated musings and still a hint of the rebellious nature that probably made him pick up a guitar in the first place. The peak of the album is easily “Shootout,” a heartbreaking but epic mix of melancholy melody and anxious ambience in which Schreifels seemingly refers to a failed relationship as “a novel with an unhappy ending.” 

An Open Letter to the Scene contains those kinds of songs that seem very basic at first, but with each listen one is struck by more of the complexity behind the songwriting. Which is probably the most powerful kind of music in any genre, as long as it is catchy enough to peak the initial interest of the listener. In this, Walter Scheifels does not fail. He has created an album that works on multiple levels; an artistic and accessible testament to his enduring career as an underground musician.