The Noisy - "Grenadine"

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Photo by Morgan Kelley

We tend to become smitten by this newfangled sound that melds indie rock with pop music seamlessly, making a sound that feels like it should have always existed. Our new favorite artist creating this style is The Noisy. Led by poet Sara Mae Henke, the band's latest single is "Grenadine." The song has this sound that combines the groovy pop music of the 60's, modern alt-pop, and the DIY feel of modern indie rock. It's such a classic yet unique style, and that's all before the horns kick in. "Grenadine" has one of the best horn sections we've heard in ages, and if you weren't sold on the song before the horns start, you certainly will be once they do. The Noisy's latest is pop music that is going to end up being adored by even the most staunch haters of the genre, who simply won't be able to help themselves.

Sara Mae Henke says of their latest video:

“The director, Sam Cush, and I came of age hanging around downtown Annapolis, where I worked at a tourist trap coffee shop and Sam's parents moved. It's where I found my first artist community in my coworkers who were writers and musicians and illustrators, where I saw live drag the first time, where Sam and I late-night-drove, where I snuck onto the best rooftops. This music video is a love letter to Annapolis, this town of annual croquet matches between Johnnies and midshipmen, cobblestone mornings with streams of last night's liquor smell, watching boats round Ego Alley. Before I left for college, my coworkers threw a house party for me, and I remember feeling so loved, then driving back over the bridge home afterwards and crying with the windows down because I didn't want to leave. All the things my teenage self desperately needed--- queer friendship, a better haircut, to get to come back to Annapolis---filming this music video affirmed I have now, and then some. The song, unlike any of the other ones I've written, jumped into my head and insisted on being written. I had the melody and the rhythm, but figuring out the lyrics about this place and these people I loved was tedious. I remember Sam coming to visit me in Knoxville, and we co-worked, and I got the lyrics down finally. It makes sense to me that this song and its visual world took the friendship of another person who loves this place like I do in order to find its final shape.” 

You can watch the video for "Grenadine" below. The Secret Ingredient is Even More Meat is due out October 24, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on The Noisy, check out the artist's website.

On Repeat...

The New Limits - "Normal Day"

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Photo via Facebook According to their Bandcamp profile, The New Limits are a "Boston ska band with a taste for rocksteady, reggae, soul, and rock n roll." They just released a single that shows off their sound perfectly. "Normal Day" is a laid back ska song dripping with soul. You know that joke that goes around every few months saying that ska is the sound that plays in a twelve year old's head when they get an extra mozzarella stick? The New Limits are the grown up version of that sound. This is ska/rocksteady for adults. It's ultra chilled out music with some of the best horns in the city. Even if you haven't listened to ska since your youth, you need to check out "Normal Day." This might help re-open the entire genre to you. The New Limits say of their latest single: " What is normal, anyway? Some of us just want a nine-to-five. Others cry at the thought. 'Normal Day' has nothing to do with quarantine and lots to do with figuri...
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Brennen Leigh - "Dumpster Diving"

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Photo by Lyza Renee Brennen Leigh has quickly become a favorite of ours, with her take on a classic country sound with a slight sense of humor. Her latest single, "Dumpster Diving," which she describes as a "trashy little tune," is everything we love about the musician. It's a vintage style country song that comes in at a punk like one minute, forty-eight seconds. With a chorus of "Dumpster diving, this ain't gonna last / Dumpster diving, 'cause baby you like trash..." how can you possibly resist. Leigh's latest gives us a decades old sound with modern sensibilities and her fantastic voice that's tailor made for this genre of music. It's almost like a collaboration between Loretta Lynn and Shel Silverstein, and who doesn't want to hear that? You can hear "Dumpster Diving" below. Don't You Ever Give Up On Love  is due out October 3 on Signature Sounds, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Brennen Leigh,...
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The Beths - "Mother, Pray for Me"

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Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it.   “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
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