If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Eleanor Petry For their latest single, Chinese American Bear have decided to go quietly groovy. "Mama" is the new track from the duo of Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten, and it has this great quality of making you want to dance and chill at the same time. The funk guitar riff might be the highlight of the entire song, which is relatively stripped down. It's the kind of song that sounds both vintage and modern at the same time, and combines funk and twee. It makes me think of a collaboration between Deee-Lite and Belle and Sebastian, which I think we can all agree that we've never thought of that combination but suddenly need it. Based on the few singles we've heard, Chinese American Bear could end up being the sleeper band of 2026. Anne Tong says of her band's latest single: "I’ve always wanted to write a song with the phrase 'chi fan le'. In Chinese families, every day revolves around meal times. Food is an extremely important part of the cul...

Photo by Eleanor Petry Chinese American Bear is the duo of Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten. They just released a new single that is a pure delight. "All the People (所有人) ," is a whimsical indie pop song sure to make even the grumpiest indie music snob smile. The song captures pure joy in musical form, and it's just a fun song. It's also cleverly put together, which is the part that is most likely going to appease the snobs. I normally bristle at music that is labelled "pop" or "uplifting," but Chinese American Bear have crafted something that is quite simply magic with their latest single. At a time when we could all use some extra positivity in the world, "All the People  (所有人) " is here for us. Bryce Barsten says of his band's latest single: "All The People (所有人) is probably my favorite song on the album.  It’s so fun, light, cool, and a little weird. It’s a song for everyone. All the people. It has some fantasy vibes, musically an...