Well, they all come to an end eventually. Local high-testosterone indie rockers The State Department are hanging it up -- drummer Aaron Baird is moving to London -- but not without a kiss-off: a new pay-what-you-want EP and a final show at U Street Music Hall.
The self-titled EP -- not to be confused with the band's self-titled EP from 2010 -- chimes with a particular local indie-rock tradition: songs about a certain neighborhood in Ward 1. But The State Department's aggro-confessional "Mount Pleasant" has two things over Tuscadero's "Mount Pleasant" and The Evens' "Mount Pleasant Isn't": 1) It sounds like it should be soundtracking footage of rock-climbing; and 2) it totally quotes Tchaikovsky.
The rest of the EP is similarly fist-pump-worthy, with the exception of the best track, "French by Spilled Blood," which is a woozy, slightly shoegazy ballad. A little Ride goes a super-long way.
Take a listen to the EP below, and grab it here. The State Department performs with Imperial China and Typefighter at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 15 at U Street Music Hall. $10.
The State Department by The State Department
Listen: The State Department’s Final EP was originally published by Washington City Paper on Aug. 7, 2012.
