When beloved purveyors of weirdo reject pop Krill decided to hang up their instruments and “cease being Krill” Boston, nay the world, mourned. The band had touched many of us with their poetic outsider lyrics, unique brand of jangle rock, and songs about Pile – we all wanted Krill to go on forever, and ever…and ever as they had promised; but in the wake of their final formal release, the magnificent A Distant Fist Unclenching, the band decided it was time to call it a day.

But wait! That’s not the final chapter for these Beantown indie innovators. From somewhere deep within the vacuum of bands that used to be bands, the trio recently blessed us with something new. A surprise s/t EP to remind us all of what we had. Recorded at Silent Barn in Brooklyn, Krill is made up of five tracks the band was working on in the days leading up to their demise and sees the band returning to the more straightforward alt-rock of their beginning. The first two tracks are tight, earnest bursts of loud/quiet start/stop erratic rock that recall the time we all first heard Krill. Still, the band was always one to push the boundaries of what makes most people roll their eyes at the “indie rock” moniker. Meditative repetitiveness and 80’s injected guitar leads on middle track “The Void” see Krill taking things somewhere slightly new as Jonah sings about staring down the unknown; eventually culminating in the songs climax as their introverted lead singer belts out “I enter the void” before the song slows and breaks down into atonally plucked strings at the end – appropriate considering the bands impending retirement at the time of recording. “The Void” is followed up by the upbeat dance jam “Happy” – a hot and cold rager that contrasts deeper lyrics with the kind of positive party punk the band came to be known for in Boston’s basements. The EP wraps things up with a 7 minute dusting of grungy pop that touches on every element that made this band legendary.

Quiet and powerful, Krill transcended the music scene of which it was a part and in it’s trail left many fans shedding tears of both sadness and happiness. Sadness that the music was coming to an end but happiness that they got to bear witness to something truly unique and different. With this final release, Krill provides an epilogue to an already momentous discography while instilling in all of us die hard fans the hope that maybe this isn’t the end. As they say, where there’s a Krill, there’s a way.