In case you missed it due to, uhh, something that took place early in 2020 that commanded most of our attention, Omaha rockers Criteria reassembled with their first album in 15 years, aptly titled Years. And in case you missed them the first time around, Criteria were the band that founding Cursive guitarist Steve Pedersen formed after leaving that group in the late ’90s, bringing with him the jagged post-hardcore guitars and just a dash of emo to this cleaner, more anthemic grunge-pop endeavor.
As was the case with Years, it doesn’t sound like any time has gone by at all between the two iterations of the band when you listen to their latest single, “You Maketh Me,” which serves as the first sample of their fourth album and Spartan Records debut, SEIZE! (Years was released on Tim Kasher’s 15 Passenger label, which has been inactive for the past three years). The heavy guitars and earworm choruses remain, and Pedersen assures us that the record more broadly is a product of its time: “These songs feel like alchemy under pressure—love as the undertow, empathy as survival, and seizing the moment as it seizes you.”
The track’s music video not only suggests that the band hasn’t aged a day since 2005, but have in fact Benjamin Button–ed into preteens. Check it out below, and pre-order SEIZE! ahead of its May 22 release date here.
