12.22 A wknd of looking (and listening) back
Nothin' but the local hits, baby!!
BABE WAKE UP IT’S RECAP SEASON—and who are we not to participate?!
Below you’ll find an overview of 35ish songs, music videos and albums (+ one film) we featured on bandsdobk.com in 2023.
The biggest and most heartfelt THANK YOU to every musician who trusted BdBK with their art this year—
A group that, despite what the above gif might indicate, did not actually include Nsync.
Everyone else: ENJOY!
“WEDDING RING” // SKINNY DIPPERS
As the saying (and reality show) goes, love is blind, and there’s no more effective prescription for pain than being so infatuated that you can’t see the signs.“Wedding Ring” from Skinny Dippers tells the story of a lovesick singer who’s so head over heels he doesn’t realize the girl of his dreams is already very much in a (legally binding) partnership with someone else. And in the video, filmed with Playmobil characters and action figures, live action and stop motion combine in a sweet, funny and utterly charming piece of art. READ MORE.
DISCO HITS RADIO (OR, THE ECSTASY OF EGO DEATH) // GOLD CASIO
Gold Casio’s 20-track debut album is here to serve as the soundtrack to the galactic-glam dance party of your electric dreams.
“We began imagining the idea of creating this cosmic mixtape, or an inter-dimensional pop radio station,” the band says of making the record.
From a cult invite to coffee-shop commentary, a powerful protective spell to a song with which to serenade your nemesis, DHR truly has something for every occasion. And the best news? You can probably dance to it. READ MORE.
“CRYIN’ SHAME’” AND “I’M BLUE” // SEMI-AUTO
“Everybody can relate to a story of unrequited love.”
Which makes it, on the source material front, the gift that keeps on giving, sonic medicine for an unlucky-in-love audience in need of miserable company and catharsis and an undying source of inspiration for artists through the ages—from Shakespeare to T-Swift to, in this instance, a group of anonymous teenagers in 1960s Texas.
The debut from SEMI-AUTO—the band responsible for the declaration that kicked off this piece—saw the BK band throwing their sad-boi sombreros into the streaming ring with an exercise in lost and found and reimagined: “a couple dusty songs about unrequited love dragged out of a Texas basement and covered by Brooklyn proto-punks.” READ MORE.
“LIGHTS” // KING BUG
Amber in my skin / Orange peels oceans / Taste the sidewalk undertow / Now it’s kicking in / Tingling feeling / Hold on tight and don’t let go/ Fine fine day, find find a day / Yeah
“Lights,” the debut single from BK ~energetic shoegaze~ supergroup King Bug, was written about the joy of achieving a single and rare piece of peace—a slice of time spent taking notice of, and finding joy in, one’s surroundings and living in the moment, rather than inside one’s head. READ MORE.
“BLACKOUT” AND “DEAD RINGER” FROM WIFEKNIFE
The debut double drop from the OWL family band—that’s WifeKnife—that “emerged among the slurry of slayers” (WHAT A PHRASE) last year includes a song about striving to break dark cycles and another occupying the space between one’s dream world and reality. READ MORE.
“HEAVEN’S GATE” // A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE
In A VERY SPECIAL EXPOSÉ, we reveal that the so-called band that is AVSE is actually nothing more than a sick, probably satanic cult. Though, to clarify, one with v rad dance moves… that we would actually—ahem—definitely be down to join. READ MORE.
“MASS SUIXIDE” // VIKTOR LONGO
Viktor Longo’s “alt-pop song about resisting the elites who want us to self-destruct” is the first single off his upcoming record (Songs to Listen to While Driving to Meet Your Lover as Civilization Crumbles and the Conspiracies Become True) and is designed to serve as “a fun and bouncy way to explore mass psychosis, self-destruction and give the finger to those that profit off it.” READ MORE.
“TARA DREAMS IN SPANISH” // GO HOME
Wherever you go, there you are… but there’s still a certain pleasure in imagining an escape. The opportunity to merge with/into another and live a different life entirely. This track from the “delinquent theater kids” that make up NYC art-rock group Go Home (the absolute perfect band, btw) is an ode to the gorgeous, glamorous and infuriatingly fascinating titular Tara, a character with whom our poetic protagonist finds themself positively obsessed. READ MORE.
“SMALLER/BETTER” // TETCHY
With the dissolution of any close relationship, there’s an inevitable mourning period. One defined by frustration, desperation, devastation. A sense of loss and being lost. A grieving of the past you had and the future, so often imagined, that you won’t. And it’s this concept/conflict, what one might call growing (apart) pains, that’s beautifully explored in “Smaller / Better” from Tetchy, the title track from the band’s “really personal (and different!) EP,” record mostly on an iPhone. and released in March. READ MORE.
“ALL YOUR LINES” // THE SHEER CURRENTS
No matter how you slice it—and whether the parallels are intentional or accidental—there’s beauty in the way the new single from The Sheer Currents features a distinct sonic shift within the song itself (“from a more melodic and delicate verse to a very loud, anthemic chorus”) while simultaneously, as a release, representing a definitive dynamic development for the band, who have expanded since the project’s founding from solo effort to full-fledged collaborative unit. READ MORE.
FROG ERA // UNCLE PIZZA
—> LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD HERE <—
Not to get all Magic School Bus on you on a Friday afternoon, but there’s perhaps no animal more symbolic of change than the frog, which goes through a series of lifecycles, transitioning from egg to tadpole to two-legged tadpole to four-legged tadpole to, eventually, its final form: the hopping, croaking, occasionally singing and dancing creature we know and love. Much like the frog, humans are always undergoing the process of becoming something else. And that’s a good thing. As voiceover in the intro to Uncle Pizza’s “leo corillo beach” reminds us, “change is essential.” And this album—written as Nicole of the “silly queer emo punk” group moved across the country, started HRT and expanded Uncle Pizza from a solo project to a full band— explores how we, as people, deal with it. READ MORE.
SO OFTEN AND SO SWEET // CAMP BEDFORD
While the ideas explored on the three-track EP from Brooklyn folk-pop-rock trio Camp Bedford are all linked to innately personal experiences—themes of pining, empowerment and the good ol’ fashioned feeling that is being really pissed off post-breakup—the emotions are also universal, and the approach with which the artists conquer these concepts is collective. It’s a united effort that comes across sonically in the form of impeccable, hard-hitting harmonies. And though, linguistically, they write in the singular—utilizing you and me and I in the lyrics—there are multiple voices speaking, or singing, as one, communicating the idea that no matter what you’re going through, you’re never, ever alone. READ MORE.
WHEN THE COMPASS RESETS THERE CAN BE NO REGRETS // ATLAS ENGINE
While Nick LaFalce’s battle with Lyme Disease may have long affected the context of his art, this series of releases mark the first time it’s served as the real subject matter. The debut Atlas Engine album—released after a series of singles and EPs—chronicles what Nick describes as “a decade of cyclical confusion, relief, and frustration,” with each of its 12 tracks serving as a “self-contained journey” and part of a larger, ongoing story he’s long been waiting to tell. READ MORE.
LPIII // LOW PRESH
Via different symbols, stories and setting, this album from Low Presh (recorded DIY style) reflects via different symbols, stories and settings on the unique, beautiful, tumultuous and completely inescapable relationship one has with oneself. More specifically, how we so frequently and tragically fail ourselves, be it “through addiction or apathy.” READ MORE.
SILENCE LIKE SIRENS FROM KALEN
Drawing on experiences real, borrowed and imagined over the years, the solo project of Kalen Lister (also of Death by Piano and Late Sea) was written as the artist’s life, responsibilities, city and circumstances changed. As she lived other places, took on new roles and traded toxic flings for a more true love. And as, throughout these developments—from singledom to motherhood— she continued to become more in tune with, and at home in, herself. READ MORE.
DESTINY IS TOO HARD // REAL BURN
Real Burn’s debut album Destiny Is Too Hard —“a lament of youth as much as it is a Zoltar machine casting a future fortune of the unknown”—is not just a result of musicians moving to the city and meeting each other, but also, at its core, a celebration of it. A story of four artists from different corners of the country who were drawn by the New York’s music scene, and arrived full of passion and purpose. A piece of work from individuals who were looking for change, met by chance and then moved forward by choice, forming not just a band but a bond along the way. In other words: A NYC success story in the sweetest sense of the word. READ MORE.
“READY YET” // STRAWBERRY LAUNCH
It’s interesting, as you get older, to see the different ways people go about growing up. And it’s a strange and fascinating phenomenon to witness friends and siblings—those with whom you played Barbies and chomped fruit snacks then hit puberty and chugged Smirnoff Ice—start checking those very adult boxes and achieving those traditional life milestones: getting married… having kids… buying houses… eating meals that aren’t microwaveable. Especially when you’re still swiping, crowdsurfing, renting with roommates and subsisting exclusively on Amy’s black-bean burritos. (You know. Hypothetically.) The good news is that the desire of Strawberry Launch to embrace and explore the anxieties that come along with aging has fortunately resulted in a gift for us all: a tender, shimmery single that serves as an “honest soliloquy about the fear of getting older.” READ MORE.
“BETTER DAYS” // LOCATIONS
Written over FaceTime during the early days of the pandemic, “Better Days” aims to explore the feelings we were all grappling with at that time: what the band describes as “loneliness, depression, isolation and”—especially fitting, given the freaky-orange-smog scenario we were dealing with the week of the release—the ”feeling of helplessness in the face of a catastrophic worldwide event.” That said, the intention of this song is not to serve as a soundtrack in which to wallow. Instead, Locations is harnessing those very feelings of helplessness into a catalyst for change and a real call to action. READ MORE.
“WOOHOO” // NIGHT SPINS
Written in the first weeks of the pandemic when Night Spins retreated to a barn in upstate New York, “Woohoo”—the title track from the band’s 2023 EP—isn’t an exercise in willful ignorance but a stubborn refusal to succumb to sorrow. Recognition that when the world is burning and there’s nothing you can do about it, you might as well still make the most of it. A testament to the fact that it’s okay to appreciate, and celebrate, that which is good. And that you always deserve to have a little fun. READ MORE.
“SHE’S SO AMERICAN” // RECLINING NUDE
Hershey’s, Snickers, M&M’s, pick up trucks and gallons of / Milk, sugar? yes, please / No thanks, hold the tea / Burnt toast, workin’ through / You’re scaring the shit out of me
In some ways, Reclining Nude’s “She’s so American” feels like the spiritual sequel to Parquet Courts’ perfect NYC slacker soundtrack “Stoned and Starving”—a new anthem for the bodega-loitering Brooklynite (who may or may not also be totally baked!) (up to the audience’s interpretation!).
To borrow from the press release: “Does it feel like the world is ending? Nobody cares inside the 7/11.”
Hang onto your slurpies, suckers! And READ MORE.
INTRO TO BASEMENT // TWO-MAN GIANT SQUID
It’s been almost two years since Two-Man Giant Squid’s debut record Abyssal Gigantism premiered on BdBK, and the original solo project of Mitch Vinokur has since grown into a tight and tight-knit group that’s rocked so many NYC venues this year they’ve been named one of the hardest working bands in NYC.
The second TMGS album, Intro to Basement, is not just a product of five talented, hardworking individuals making music on the stages and in the studios of New York City but also a piece of art that is inspired by, and aspires to honor, our generous, supportive and endlessly creative community itself.
“The album is our thank you to the scene that has welcomed us with such open arms,” says Mitch. READ MORE.
MEMENTO MORI’ // SAM ZALTA
While music is the jam here at BdBk, we all love a language lesson, and today’s phrase of the day is going to be a Latin one. Memento mori translates to ‘remember you are mortal’ or ‘remember you will die’. In other words, it’s pretty much the original YOLO.
It’s also the title of the 2023 album from Sam Zalta (+ ok, Depeche Mode)—a very personal piece of work (”the most pure or natural thing [he’s] done”) with themes that “revolve around the many definitions of death” and a catalogue of influences that range from David Lynch films to the Bible to the Beach Boys. READ MORE.
FORGIVING SEASON // ELIJAH WOLF
A product of musical experimentation and emotional excavation, Elijah Wolf’s Forgiving Season feels, and even sounds, like a change of seasons… a shedding of negative thoughts and past selves… a sonic segue from a dark, difficult past to a new present and a hopeful future. In a sense, the record’s ten tracks feel like a collection of caring letters, written by the artist to himself, in which we can all find a little wisdom. READ MORE.
DELIVISION // GOOD DELI
Life is like a deli…. you never know what you’re gonna get. And across Delivision’s 12 tracks, surprises (and sound effects) are aplenty, while silliness and sincerity are employed equally and expertly to express emotion. Most notably, the fun truly comes through, with Andrew “Deli” Dell Isola—aka Good Deli—pulling inspiration from stranger trauma and stranger drama… his heart aching and his back breaking… Captain Crunch, Bart Simpson and a beloved gambling grandmother who may or may not be named Betty (alias implemented to protect the awesome). READ MORE.
“NOWHERE TOWN” // CLIMATES
—> LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD <—
We’ve all heard “the grass is greener” but there’s also a less talked-about, and perhaps even more uncomfortable, concept: That MAYBE our grass was greener. In other words, the wondering, and the worrying, that what you’ve left behind might be better than where you are now. Discomfort arising from an exit without a clear destination, being in the space between A and B, the leaving of a person or a place that, if not right, at least felt familiar. The limbo that defines the in-between of our lives. With their most recent single, Climates explores this space from a place of patience, opting not to look back at the past or focus on the future but to embrace the energy of the unknown and recognize it as a valid, and even necessary, experience of its own. READ MORE.
“ANOTHER DAY IN THE EXPERIMENT” // ONESIE
“Another Day In the Experiment” from “heavy power pop weirdos” Onesie was inspired by what frontman Ben Haberland described as “cultural decline during lockdown… a particle accelerator that made it very apparent common sense and basic compassion were in short supply in certain areas.” It’s rooted in what, for many of us, is an ongoing battle: Being torn between the urge to abandon this—as described by George Washington—“great experiment” (surely the reference for this song) for less panic-inducing pastures … or, well, stick it out and fight to improve it. And to accompany the song, there’s a video shot at perhaps the most unique (and certainly most bizarre) slice of our city, and perhaps our country: Coney Island, obviously. READ MORE.
“NOWHERE LULLABY” // LAPÊCHE
“Doug Martsch is an influence and inspiration,” says LAPêCHE. “Performing ‘Nowhere Lullaby’, one of [Built to Spill’s] most underrated songs, in my opinion, is a hug and a thank you from the band.”
Beyond being a cover, LAPÊCHE’s creative expression of gratitude to the Boise-based indie legends they love has resulted in what is truly a second sonic gift for us all.
SUGAR I’M TIRED // WETSUIT
On their debut album, Wetsuit explores a spectrum of emotions and experiences in the realm of relationships: from budding bonds to warm-and-fuzziness to depression and desperation… from finding true love to mourning lost friends to the oh-so-essential exercise that is exorcizing your exes. And both on the record and in this track by track, Allison Becker showcases the honesty and vulnerability that make Wetsuit songs—and shows—hit so damn hard. READ MORE.
“SAME OLE LOVE (365 DAYS A YEAR)” // LOVETEMPO FT. PRINCE TERRENCE
With their take on “Same Ole Love (365 Days a Year),” Mattie Safer (under his newest project, lovetempo) and his friend and collaborator Prince Terrence (also: Rare Form) have taken care to transform Anita Baker’s 1986 R&B classic and make it their own. The result is a sexy, slower, disco-style (significantly less eighties-feeling) spin on the original love song that would surely have the artist grooving in her grave if she wasn’t still very much alive. READ MORE.
“SOMEONE LOOKING OUT” // PETER WISE
Weddings naturally inspire a lot of emotions in their attendees—especially the uncoupled ones. Those of us who are chasing tequila shots with buttercream frosting at our assigned seat at the singles table (then skipping the slow dance in favor of teaching everyone’s great aunts how to Wobble) reckon with a complicated combination of feelings during these events. Some hope, vicarious happiness, maybe a little jealousy, some wistfulness and wanting. All thrown together and mixed up in that $350 registry blender we definitely didn’t buy the bride and groom from Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Fresh off working a full wedding season, it’s this specific experience—sincerely toasting two people as they til-death-do-they-part it while simultaneously experiencing a particular sense of longing… and maybe a little bit of loneliness—that NYC singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Wise explored in this song. READ MORE.
“ODIE” // A SHADOW MONSTER COVER OF THE NIHILOCEROS TRACK
If the Brooklyn music scene had an official hype man, or maybe a mayor, it would be Mike Borchardt of Nihiloceros, and given the love Mike consistently shows to musicians in the scene, well… it’s no surprise that friends would jump at the chance to reciprocate the feeling and return the favor. This mutual respect, appreciation and adoration is exemplified inRe-Destroyed: a revisiting of the 2021 Nihiloceros record Self Destroy that features covers of the original tracks contributed by members of the Brooklyn music community—including BdBK fave Shadow Monster, whose interpretation of “Odie” we premiered in September. READ MORE.
"OBSESSION” // TEA EATER
There’s power in passion… beauty in finding, and following, your purpose. And it’s a gift not just to yourself but to the world when you discover, and grow into, your place in it.
One such artist who embodies this ideal is Tarra Thiessen, whose musical pursuits include playing peculiar percussion (coffee cans, rubber chickens) in Gustaf; praising the purple pope while celebrating strange holidays over stream as part of one half of MamajoeVramajoe; and singing/screaming about butter, Jack Nicholson and the DMV—among other things—as the frontperson of her newest project, Tea Eater. (Watch a studio session we filmed featuring those tracks here.)
The debut Tea Eater album dropped this year, and in the title track and video—filmed in a ceramics studio—Tarra, an artist obsessed, praises creative preoccupation and celebrates the positive effects of being all-consumed. READ MORE.
THE DRINKS ARE ALWAYS FREE IN PURGATORY // COUVO & CHARLIE HULL
With the bizarro world that is Bushwick as a backdrop, Couvo’s albumThe Drinks Are Always Free in Purgatory is a series of songs that explore the hope and (occasional) hustle for a tomorrow that never comes through the lens of a protagonist existing in “that liminal space, set in an all-too-familiar landscape of unfulfilled expectations and uncertain futures.” And it’s this very L-Train-adjacent limbo—characterized by both artistic expression/obsession plus a not insignificant dash of arrested development—in which Josh has set his corresponding film. Directed by Charlie Hull (of Mary Shelley) and packed with cameos from local artists, The Drinks Are Always Free in Purgatory centers on Josh as an endearing and unlucky semi-slacker of a musician (according to credits: “himself?”) who is kind of (maybe) making an effort, perpetually recognizing the ridiculousness of the world he inhabits but also actively participating in it. To various degrees of humiliation. READ MORE.
NIGHT AT THE ARCADE // DD WALKER
While loss is not necessarily the theme of NIGHT AT THE ARCADE—the EP from DD Walker—it is a very human experience that has factored heavily into the creation of Alex M’s latest release in more ways than one. On the emotional inspiration front, the record was a product of a “post-breakup spiral,” while its sonic trajectory was permanently altered when Alex was jumped and robbed of a hard drive containing five years of music, leaving the artist no option but to re-start from scratch. And, with the help of some collaborators, do something totally different. READ MORE.
“HAUNT YOU” // BOOK/SPIRIT
Inspired by words found on a painting hanging in a Philadelphia art museum, “Haunt You” is “ about navigating that loss of identity that can occur at the end of a relationship when so much of your identity was tied up in that relationship,” Book/Spirit vocalist/guitarist Pete Ferrari says of the band’s second track, in which the singer grapples with his own disappearance while describing supernatural plans to cling on and linger in his lover’s life. READ MORE.
Annnd… FIN.
Twas a v good year for music—and here’s to more more more in 2024.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS <3
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