“We chose our name, Constant Companion, to refer to all of the companions that stay with us, constantly, throughout our lives: the demons, the depression and anxiety, the traumas, the crutches we use to hobble through—and, of course, the music, the art, and the people who make our lives ultimately worth living.”  - Cassie Youngstrom, vocalist/guitarist of Constant Companion

Confounded by the trivia of space, time, and meaning of life, the Brooklyn-based trio Constant Companion release their debut EP Curious Design. Building off the jangly transient punk that was the footing for their In Transit demos, Cassie Youngstrom (guitars/vocals), James Keogh (bass), and Stephen Zimmer (drums) are finding ways to balance out their pop tendencies and admiration for punk music. Inspired by the introspective lyricism of Kevin Devine and Tegan and Sara, the band decorates their existential discourse with ebullient hooks that draw from the likes Beach Slang and The Replacements.

Rambunctious opener “Patsy Cline” deals with social anxieties and daily mundanities that can only be washed down with a disremembered night at the bar while the calamitous “Hard Line (Straight & Narrow)”, channels the angst that comes with the process of figuring out what it means to be human. Sweetly crooning the lines, “there’s no room for fear / can’t be sure what I’m living for, but I’m certain I’ll find it here” Youngstrom finds comfort in the regularly occurring spiral-like structures in life to offset her perpetual existential state of mind on the EP’s title track. The somber outro, “Cognitive Dissonance”, is a dash of energy, awash in melody and the pursuit for meaning, a fitting capstone to Curious Design.

Curious Design is out today (4/15) digitally on Bandcamp.

The band is playing Beach Slang’s tour opener at The Music Hall of Williamsburg on 4/20.