By: Nikki Wertheim

“So we’re left here with a gouged out heart and a dirty dull spoon to blame…”

Defiantly, Stolid repeats this sentiment over and over again in the song “Darling”, and we realize there’s no other way to explain the band’s attitude than by looking at this line.

Stolid is made up of four dudes from Milton, Vermont, with a clever blend of hard rock and melodious hooks. Lead singer Ben Nappi and Joe Elkins’ powerful tenors soar above and beyond expectations as the band seems like it should be labeled emo if there wasn’t something different about it. Plainly speaking, Stolid is too reserved and smart to be emo; the songwriting is honest, but not miserable. The blend of instrumentals are incredibly catchy, but simple. The boys of Stolid are in pain at points, but they don’t try to tell you in a roundabout way with metaphors and cliché lines. They just have lyrics like the aforementioned to explain their raw sound…also, citing bands like Bad Religion and Staind as major influences might have something to do with the dichotomy as well.

Stolid’s highly anticipated EP What It’s Worth came out February of 2007. Since then, the band has spent the better part of the past year touring the northeast, attempting to spread their music to a wider audience. It shouldn’t be difficult; anyone with a heart and decent ears can tell these guys are on to something.