The St. Petersburg, Florida band Snacking play a version of emo that is more or less interchangeable with “indie rock” — melancholy yet uptempo and poppy, with punchy guitar riffs and vocals that soothe rather than barrage. They’re in the same phylum as Death Cab For Cutie, Pedro The Lion, and Jimmy Eat World, and they’re extremely good at what they do. Snacking released their promising Not Here EP back in 2018, and now they’re finally ready to drop another one called Painted Gold, preceded today by lead single “Blacked Out On A Train.”

“We chose ‘Blacked Out On A Train’ as the single because it’s a step in a different direction for us,” the band tells Brooklyn Vegan. “It’s more dissonant and hectic than anything we’ve written previously. We thought it would do a good job of attracting new listeners and hopefully surprise those who are already familiar with our prior material.” It’s true that “Blacked Out On A Train” presents Snacking at their most explosive, but not at the expense of approachability.

Listen below.

Painted Gold is out 2/15 on Chillwavve Records.