There’s an unnerving maturity to Cut The Kids In Half‘s debut album What We Became. Written while brothers Charlie and Jack Silver were still in high school, these nine tracks showcase songwriting that belies their youth—18 and 19 respectively—tackling themes of family dissolution, failed romance, and the weight of growing older with remarkable clarity.
The album announces itself with “Storm Drain Girls,” opening on a memorable guitar riff that serves as foundation for Charlie Silver’s distinctive baritone, somewhere between The Cure’s Robert Smith and The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas. The lyrics immediately establish the album’s thoughtful perspective: “And I’ve seen the sewers, I’ve learned what boys become / Men who trade their faces for the safety of their sons.”
This contemplation of masculinity and inheritance continues through “A Good Man Died,” where Silver explores a relationship’s deterioration with striking imagery: “Angels like you only come from below.” The band’s ability to pair dark themes with compelling melodies shows throughout, perhaps most notably on “Song of Two Humans,” where they observe, “Every word you’ve said to me is printed somewhere in my mind / Like obituaries placed between the comics and the crime.”
The album’s centerpiece is the sprawling 11-minute “Riverbend,” which evolves from intimate acoustic beginnings into a theatrical finale complete with trumpet flourishes from Mac Gollehon (David Bowie, Hall & Oates). The track’s evolution from youthful optimism—”Watched that infinite sky til it rolls over black / I chose the number and you picked the names / Of the children we knew in a decade we’d raised”)—to weathered perspective—”Everybody’s on a one way street and we’re driving down it faster every day it seems”—serves as a microcosm of the album’s themes.
The presence of collaborators like Gollehon and GRAMMY-nominated cellist Dave Eggar (Coldplay, Patti Smith) adds depth to the arrangements without overshadowing the core songwriting. It’s rare to hear teenage songwriters with the confidence to let their compositions breathe, to trust in space and dynamics rather than filling every moment.
What We Became is an impressively assured debut that suggests Cut The Kids In Half has potential far beyond their years. While some moments betray their youth, it’s precisely this combination of technical ambition and emotional earnestness that makes the album compelling. These are songs written in the midst of becoming, and that journey proves fascinating to witness.
What We Became is out now on all streaming platforms.
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