The (Local) Fresh Five: Marsgarb, Molly Brandt, Wish Wash, rice, and Threads Electric
For the Fresh Five we pick out five great new(ish) jams that we’re currently obsessing over. All of these songs come from local (Minnesota) bands/artists.
Marsgarb is a local trio that formed in 2021 consisting of Chris Hepola (keys/drums), Jenna Wyse (vox/synth), and Josh Granowski (bass/FX). The band will release their debut album Birds Eye on 8/22 at Cloudland (a show which will also feature heavy hitters Crystal Myslajek and The Nunnery). Tickets/details are here. Marsgarb’s sound is a mix of indie rock and dream pop, Wyse’s vocals, worked with a lot of layers and reverb, provide a focal point while Hepola and Granowski’s jazz-accented rhythms add great underlying texture. The band occasionally sounds a bit reminiscent of Broadcast but only to a minor degree.
It’s been fun to watch local phenom Molly Brandt’s musical ascendance recently, going from releasing her first singles in 2022 to winning Americana Artist of the Year at the 2023 Midwest Country Music Awards. Brandt continues her path with her next album American Saga which will release on 9/27. You can check out single/video “Sunup” (featuring the Sunsettes) now – a rock/pop tune that feels like a departure from Brandt’s rootsy Americana. It will be interesting to see how Brandt’s style continues to evolve in the course of the new album (there will be a release show on 10/4 at Icehouse which has not yet been posted).
Wish Wash are a local four piece rock band that released their debut self titled album earlier this Summer (stream/purchase here). You can stream the video for the single “Chowderhead” above. The tune starts out a bit innocuous but really kicks into gear with its epic guitar riff chorus. If you feel your body twitching it’s because the sound that practically prompts an involuntary pavlovian slam-dance response.
rice is a new experimental trio consisting of James Blake (not that James Blake) M. Harlan Engelmann, and Toby Ramaswamy (who we have interviewed in the past). rice’s sound is an anxiety-provoking fever dream of ghostly ambient sound and slowed down, heavily worked vocal samples (which they pull from old movies and other sources). The band’s debut album It Aint Coca-Cola was released last week via Bumpy and you can listen to single “Electrickotatsuand” now.
Threads Electric is Joe Capacete and Brian Perry, a local indie pop duo. They will release a new single “The We We Are” this Friday. You can check out their single from earlier in the Summer “Dust” above, a dreamy synthpop jam with melancholy lyricism, danceable beat, and irrepressibly catchy pop hooks.
