While his Alkaline Trio co-vocalist keeps busy with theHELL and Matt Skiba and the Sekrets, Dan Andriano had time to record this nifty little 7-inch, his second offering under the Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room moniker. While the release lacks the full band dynamics that made full-length debut Hurricane Season so interesting, Andriano's voice is strong enough to carry these songs on its own.

Up first is "Of Peace, Quiet and Monsters." It's a contemplative acoustic track, not too out of step with quieter Hurricane Season numbers like "Hollow Sounds" and "Say, Say, Say." The monster metaphors in the verses come off a bit hokey at times, but the soulful, soothing chorus of "You can always find quiet / But can never really find peace" more than make up for it.

On the flip side is a cover of Belle & Sebastian's "String Bean Jean." Andriano stays fairly faithful to the original, yet provides just enough alterations to make it his own. His version is a bit slowed down from the source material, and excises the drums that gave that version its momentum, instead utilizing a minimalist approach of piano keys and acoustic guitars. Andriano's voice is more powerful and direct than that of Stuart Murdoch, and his vocals are able to command your attention, even when the instrumental portion of the song seems rather distant.

There's nothing on this 7-inch that's too fundamentally different from what we've heard from this project before, but it is nice just to have some new songs to tide us over until his next release. Of all the punk rock frontmen putting out quiet solo efforts, Andriano is near the top of the heap, and this release does nothing to diminish that status.