From comedy bardcore to quiet storm quarter-life crisis anthems, MTech's finest showed out in epic fashion this summer.
Written by Alex Han
Hello all and welcome back to Singles Spotlight! It's been a great summer to this point, punctuated by plenty of great music from all corners of the MTech community. This edition covers some our favorite releases from the months of June and July, namely those by Funhouse Mirrors, Strawberry Launch, and Trash Bangs! Sorry we couldn't cover more—we've been super busy over the summer with our own lives, but rest assured we'll be back next month with a new edition.
You all know the drill—make sure to show support for all of the artists involved by streaming their music via the links we've provided! Hope you all enjoy the music and happy reading!
Funhouse Mirrors - Schrodinger's Sexuality
Stream "Schrodinger's Sexuality" via Funhouse Mirrors' Linktree page! Also check out the track's music video on YouTube, and if you like what you hear, visit the official Funhouse Mirrors website for more information!
While I was building my first couple guitars back during the spring semester, I became somewhat of a constant presence on the eighth floor. I was all too eager to pass my guitars-in-progress around to anyone who could play, seeking opinions from better guitarists than I as to how the instruments felt and played. During that time, I watched a great many MTech students play guitar for me, and saw a ton of different techniques, practices, and styles of play in use. To date, though, only one student chose to flip my (very much right-handed) guitar upside down and play it left-handed—this being Johnny Weiner, guitarist for the wildly innovative progressive rock outfit Funhouse Mirrors. While I stood there, amazed by Johnny's ability to literally play guitar backwards, he nonchalantly remarked something to the effect of "you get used to it if you do it often enough" (…damn, I guess I need to start building some left-handed guitars too in order to ease this man's pain). In short, watching him play upside-down was mind-boggling to the extent that it broke my brain for a second or two. In short, I'd witnessed but a small portion of the musical skill and out-of-the-box approach that goes into Funhouse Mirrors as a whole.
Funhouse Mirrors has been a consistent blip on my radar for several months while I've been working on this blog. Comprised of lead vocalist and drummer Evan Sheppard, bassist Jackson Gray, keyboardist Dan Centeno, and the aforementioned Johnny Weiner on guitars, the band embraces a wide variety of influences, spanning from deep prog to uber-technical math rock—which, admittedly, is why many of the band's prior releases have sailed clean over my head prior to this point! Nonetheless, their most recent effort, the hilarious "Schrodinger's Sexuality", has found itself in regular rotation on my Spotify as of late. Built on a whimsical 7/4 pulse and an entertaining, humorous dissection of the societal hyperfixation on sexuality, "Schrodinger's Sexuality" pairs ambitious, technically saavy musicianship with genuine absurdist comedy in a package that has to be my favorite from Funhouse Mirrors thus far.
"The story of 'Schrodinger’s Sexuality' started when a friend of mine from music school posted a picture of her band for pride month with the caption “Guess the straight one”… Every time we’d hang out, every new clue and lead I’d get from her just ended up convoluting things even further. She’d always throw a curveball, and their sexualities being completely unknown was starting to remind me of Schrödinger’s Cat—a thought experiment where a cat is placed into a box along with deadly poison, and since you can’t see whether the cat has touched that poison or not, it’s in a state of being both dead or alive: that is, until you open the box. Since we had no idea what they were, their sexualities, at least from our point of view, were in a very similar quantum superposition. They were all every sexuality… and none, simultaneously." –Evan Sheppard, lead vocalist of Funhouse Mirrors
Clicking play opens up the track with a strangely off-kilter organ riff played by Dan, embracing an unapologetically disjunct melodic contour and plenty of interesting minor seventh dissonances. Johnny's squawking guitar and Jackson's syncopated, chromatic bassline join in soon after, backed by a steady 7/4 pulse courtesy of Evan on drums. Johnny and Dan start an entertaining back-and-forth of sorts, as Johnny's guitar in the left channel trades passages with Dan's organ in the right, which I thought was a really nice touch. The energy of the track almost gives the impression of randomness, in a controlled-chaos sort of way; the different musical elements come together to create a distinctly chaotic blend that nonetheless manages to fit together in a clearly structured manner. Moreover, this intro is a prime example of the fact that the implementation of an odd time signature does not have to come at the expense of groove, as the band's tight performance conveys some serious funk as well! It's a really fun intro that's sure to make you start tapping your feet along, and sets up the vibe of the track quite nicely.
Dropping into the first verse, Johnny's guitar drops into some almost-punk palm mutes as Evan's lead vocals enter. The lead vocals employ a theatrical almost-deadpan delivery, embracing a sort of over-the-top exaggerated showmanship that pairs well with the tongue-in-cheek atmosphere of the piece. The verse doesn't overstay its welcome, as the chorus hits after a short round of couplets. The whole band contributes backing vocals on a repeated refrain of "Schrodinger's sexuality", through a pretty dry vocal mix that gave a mental image of the four band members singing the song together over pints of beer in a tavern somewhere, which was solidly entertaining. Johnny's mix in general draws from a pretty organic, old-school classic rock sort of philosophy, where all the elements are presented as if the band is playing together in a room in front of me; the smoke and mirrors of the studio are mostly absent here, and I thought that was a great decision in terms of furthering the overall vibe of the track. The lyrics are also hilarious; Evan wailing "is she straight or gay??" stands out as a particularly great moment that elicited a genuine chuckle from me on first listen.
"Johnny, our guitarist, came in and wrote a peaceful medieval acoustic guitar part for the middle section as well as a harmonized riff between all the instruments… [he also] brought in Abi Mohr, another NYU student, as a session player to record flute for the medieval skit… Jackson, our bassist, then decided to put over the medieval instrumental a goofy skit where we 'travel back in time to figure out her sexuality', which was honestly the cherry on top for the whole song." –Evan Sheppard, lead vocalist of Funhouse Mirrors
Instead of feeding us a second chorus immediately after the second verse, the band instead veers off into an instrumental break, where Jackson really gets to show off their chops; they bust out a sick bass solo that hits all sorts of interesting chromaticisms as it walks up and down. The bass solo is nothing compared to the curveball that follows, though, as we suddenly drop out of prog rock territory into a hysterical bardcore breakdown. The drums, electric bass, and electric guitar all disappear, and we are instead carried forward by what sounds like a lute(??), plus an additional cameo from MTech student Abi Mohr on the flute. Over the top, Evan, Johnny, and Jackson perform a truly hilarious sketch set in the 17th century, as the three deliberate the sexual orientation of the song's subject for a solid minute. The section is chock-full of excellent one-liners and truly beautiful moments, and all three prove themselves as being really solid voice actors in addition to being skilled musicians. I won't spoil all the punchlines for you here, but do yourself a favor and go listen. I was laughing, out loud, for a solid minute or two. Fun times!
"As the song was coming together, I had more and more ideas to make the song even more insane, such as an a cappella section with us repeating the names of different sexualities." –Evan Sheppard, lead vocalist of Funhouse Mirrors
The song gives us another chorus, but Funhouse Mirrors still has one more comedic ace up their sleeve on the way out, as we enter a hilarious breakdown consisting of the band members performing an acapella rendition of different melodic elements from the song—only this time, they use only the names of various sexualities (someone recreates Jackson's bassline by singing "bi bi bi bi bi bi" really fast, the organ riff becomes "gay gay gay… GAY gay", and I'm pretty sure Johnny's off in the right speaker singing "pan pan pan pan"). It's ridiculous in the best way possible, and I'm pretty certain I missed the last chorus entirely on first listen since I was still chuckling over it. The track makes its exit at a little over the five minute mark, and yet, on account of all the switchups and fun moments, it truly never gets old, and I think that's a commendable feat.
"Schrodinger's Sexuality" is truly like nothing I've ever heard. Some might call it a novelty song, but it's also a really musically interesting, complex piece of work that manages to incorporate aspects of comedy and catchy songwriting to give it a very compelling appeal. I also interpreted the song's subject matter as being a wry commentary on the ease with which society becomes obsessed with the sexuality of a person, whether in the context of tabloid pieces about a celebrity or wild gossip amongst friends ("OMG, I think so-and-so might be gay", and so on). Whether or not the song was written with that exact angle in mind, I'm not entirely sure, but in any case, it's truly not that deep; the song is hilarious either way and it definitely ranks among my favorites from Funhouse Mirrors to date. "Schrodinger's Sexuality" is a wholly unexpected (but somehow deeply fitting) marriage between earnest, off-kilter, big-brained prog rock and absurd, ridiculous, hugely endearing comedy writing, and it's sure to find a home in many (ambiguously queer or not!) Spotify users' playlists from here forward!
Strawberry Launch - Light Blue Sheets
Stream "Light Blue Sheets" everywhere via the Strawberry Launch Linktree page!
Between myself and Reggie Katz, as the two chief writers on this blog, I always thought that Reggie was the bigger Strawberry Launch fan between the two of us. In recent months, though, I'm starting to think I'm winning out! Strawberry Launch, a five-piece psychedelic indie band comprised mostly of MTech alumni (lead vocalist Riiza, guitarist Matrianna, bassist Abby, keyboardist Taylor, and drummer Benjy), released their second single of the year this past June, the synthpop-influenced "Light Blue Sheets"… which now marks their second song of the year that shot up to the top of my Spotify On Repeat within the first week of its release! Following up their previous single, "Ready Yet", a psychedelic indie rock confessional dealing with the harsh realities of growing older, "Light Blue Sheets" takes a step into lighter thematic territory, buoyed by similarly airy production that straddles the line between '80s synthpop and '90s new jack swing. While the song certainly doesn't abandon the parts of Strawberry Launch I've come to know and love, it presents those qualities in a new light, through a distinctly shimmery, electronic lens that makes for a very exciting package that challenges one's perception of what Strawberry Launch can do in all sorts of fun new ways!
"['Light Blue Sheets'] is for the sexy, intimidating girls. I had an experience where I went to see an artist's show and immediately fell in love with their vibe and their alluring demeanor. I got home and wrote this song out so fast. I am deeply attracted to people with smooth confidence." –Riiza, lead vocalist of Strawberry Launch
Kicking us off with a growling, sharp-edged synth bass, Riiza's lead vocals enter shortly afterwards, taking us straight into the track without much prelude. She sings "You're so intimidating, pretty baby, golden lady", slightly veiled behind a shimmering reverb that synergizes really well with the track's vibrant, colorful imagery—golden ladies, pink dresses, light blue sheets, and so on. As the verse builds energy, Benjy brings a steady four-on-the-floor kick, Taylor contributes an extra pad layer, and Matrianna's guitars cameo for a short chordal passage that I thought made for a really nice 2000's pop rock kind of ornamentation. The mix sounds great—the instruments sound nice and lush, but Riiza cuts right through the center of the mix, with a crystal-clear vocal sound with just enough added color to blend in seamlessly with the track's brilliant, flamboyant, thoroughly dazzling soundscape.
The chorus wastes no time swelling into view, opening with massively catchy chanted shouts of "you! you! you!" that seamlessly transition into Riiza's first line ("You in a dress, as you're dancing alone/Taking off your makeup when we get home"). Matrianna contributes some jangly, bright guitar work that lends the whole thing a subtly skiffle pulse underneath its bombastic synthpop trappings, as Abby adds a forceful bassline that slams the chorus home. Benjy, Abby, and Taylor contribute additional elements that add to the rhythmic complexity of the track, as rapid synth arps and snare ghost notes and hi-hat frills all seem to melt together into one thundering train that never stops moving. Riiza's melody is super catchy, weaving and dancing over the chords, at one point ducking down into the third octave when the title setting ("in our light blue sheets") hits and some delicious backing vocal harmonies enter to back her up. In true pop songwriting fashion a la Max Martin, the band only gives us half of a chorus this first time through—a tried-and-true songwriter's trick that leaves us wanting more.
The second verse returns us to Benjy's four-on-the-floor pulse, this time with a slightly bigger-sounding instrumental arrangement. Flickers of distorted guitars, synth fifths, and occasional tom fills all contribute to the increased sense of scale I get from this second verse; in particular, I thought Riiza's call-and-response backing vocals were really nice, as was the "what are you staring at?" dialogue, which finally gave voice to the song's nameless subject. From there, the band gives us the full chorus we've been missing, lush harmonies and all. Listening to this chorus makes me wish I still had a car so I could blast it while going 90 down the freeway, hanging out the sunroof; the song has an infectiously carefree spirit, accompanied by an intensity that feels like soaring in the wind. One more chorus and the song is down and out, making a swift, clean pop exit that almost feels like it comes too soon.
"We’ve just been working on writing and producing it for the past few months, so I’m really happy with the final result. It’s definitely a feel-good song and perfect for summer. It always cheers me up when I listen to it, and I instantly feel like dancing." –Matrianna Gahol, guitarist of Strawberry Launch
Rarely does Strawberry Launch go straightforward pop, but "Light Blue Sheets" serves as a compelling argument that the band can hold their own just as well in the pop space as in their traditional indie psychedelic soundscape. Especially compared to the five-minute "Ready Yet", which I thought used its length, particularly its minute-long chorus, as an interesting deconstruction of pop songwriting, "Light Blue Sheets" is really compact, barely passing the three-minute mark; the song keeps resolutely moving forward, never staying in one place for long, and giving the listener catchy hook after catchy hook without making them wait. I'd say the song is over too fast, but ultimately, I think there's a solid argument to be made that that's a good thing, and the song's compactness has certainly been very effective at enticing me to play it over and over again on repeat (which I have been, unabashedly, for a month now. No shame). I'd also to venture to say that I've never heard Strawberry Launch lean this far into the "wall of sound" production aesthetic with their music before. "Light Blue Sheets" sounds massive, and the band blends together seamlessly into a great, swirling wall of textures and timbres that floods the whole frequency spectrum. I remember listening to the song's second verse and being genuinely unable to tell how much of what I was listening to was Matrianna's guitar or Taylor's synths or Abby's bass or all three. The result is a truly new evolution of Strawberry Launch, that eschews the endearing DIY spirit of their 2021 self-titled EP in favor of a big-budget tsunami that makes for an unassailable showcase of the band's pop appeal. Coming off this thing, I find myself hoping that "Light Blue Sheets", whether the band intended it to kick off a grand new era or not, means that we're in for a very, very exciting future from Strawberry Launch, because it certainly gives that vibe—and as always, I am truly excited to see whatever they throw us next!
Trash Bangs - Going To Be (Better Now)
Stream "Going To Be (Better Now)" via the Trash Bangs Linktree page! Also, be on the lookout for the duo's upcoming EP, We Regret to Inform You, which comes out August 28th. Pre-save the EP on Spotify and pre-order it via Bandcamp!
I arrived in MTech just a tad too late to cross paths with now-graduated synthpop duo Trash Bangs. Trash Bangs is comprised of vocalist & guitarist Kate Gallagher and producer Nick Royall, who both graduated in 2021, just before I entered MTech as an internal transfer. That same year brought the duo's debut EP, titled Teen Romance, an excursion into guitar-infused electronica and synthpop. This past July, Trash Bangs released their new single, "Going To Be (Better Now)", their first drop of new material in two years. Also my first peek into the cinematic universe of Trash Bangs, this new single embraces a hugely emotive collision between soft R&B and synthwave in a quarter-life crisis anthem that deftly captures early-adulthood feelings of self-doubt and regret deeply felt by many.
"I started the first versions of the instrumental way back in May of 2021 around the same time that Kate and I were graduating from MTech. We had just finished making our first EP Teen Romance not even a month before but I already had some new directions I wanted to explore as a producer for our second project. It started as just a beat and a melody I played on my OP1, but from the start I heard this guitar riff in my head that I wanted Kate to play over it." –Nick Royall, producer & composer of Trash Bangs
Opening with the sound of a distant church bell and an ominous, bitcrushed narration, the first verse gently swells into view on the backs of lush, washed-out guitars and sweet-tempered synth bells over gentle trap drums. The synthy, retro-nostalgic vibe of this opening section is really nice, and the wash of verdant, thick reverbs contrasts really nicely with Kate's straightfoward, relatively dry vocal, which sits front and center in the mix. Kate's vocal melodies capture saccharine minor key pop with a distinctly alt-rock bent, and her voice sounds excellent here, embracing an emotive, vulnerable presentation that synergizes well with the quiet regret that defines the song's emotional undercurrent. The chorus slides in smoothly, bringing picked broken chords on guitar, mirrored by some tasteful, mallet-like synth arps that subtly take up the emotional stakes a notch. Kate's vocals, while somewhat restrained, still soar in a really nice way here, floating up and down the scale with a lightness that feels effortless. I found myself wishing for some more EQ work here, as I started having trouble making out Kate's vocals underneath the added extra synths for the chorus; seemed like there was some masking there that might be impacting the intelligibility of the vocals a little too much for my taste. Still, though, this opening leg of "Going To Be (Better Now)" is a really strong one, and gifts us a beautifully poignant narrative and a catchy, emotive musical palette that sets up the track's emotional arc flawlessly from the jump.
"The lyrics of this song were inspired by the way I felt when I was laying in bed at night not able to sleep. The first verse is more about the physical feelings—lying in bed in the middle of the night sweating and panicking about everything you’ve ever been worried about. Even though very little of it is rational, somehow everything is always worse when you’re alone and sleep deprived. " –Kate Gallagher, vocalist & guitarist of Trash Bangs
"And I'd build me up
But it hurts more when I fall
I'd pick it up
Oh, but you never call
And I've let me down
More times than I can count
I thought that I'd be better by now."
"Thematically the song is about what Kate and I were feeling that summer after graduation. At the time I was dealing with a lot of feelings of failure, uncertainty, and disappointment stemming from how my college years ended after being disrupted by the pandemic. I was kind of questioning whether I had wasted my time at MTech since I hadn’t graduated with the kind of solid career direction that I would have wanted. In hindsight there were obviously a lot of external factors outside of my control that had led to that situation, but I was definitely blaming myself for a lot of it." –Nick Royall
"The lyrics of the chorus are some of my favorites that I’ve written. They allude to the fear of making the tough decisions necessary to make yourself better." –Kate Gallagher
We're welcomed into the second verse by some really nice harmony parts courtesy of Kate, who augments the otherwise pretty austere soundscape with some tasteful ornamentation. It was at this point that I really started to fall in love with Kate's overall presentation as a vocalist; she actually reminds me quite a bit of a couple other MTech artists, namely Deadbeat Girl and Keyfauver; Kate conveys quiet, disaffected apathy with an expert touch, imbuing her voice with a subtle growl that provides a hint at the emotional turmoil behind the song's weighty subject matter. "Going To Be (Better Now)" deals first and foremost with feelings of regret; while Nick & Kate were chiefly inspired by their 2021 graduation mostly being sidelined due to the pandemic, I really admire how the lyrics take those feelings and make them universal, recontextualizing the feelings that stem from that post-college directionless miasma and making them instead into a story about letting yourself down over and over again. It's a really poignant blend that hits close to home for me, which I suppose speaks to Kate & Nick's achievements on the songwriting front here. It's a very strong piece of work that I'm sure many of us could relate to, and that's an accomplishment plenty deserving of recognition.
"We had the section from 2:20 onwards done first and it had this building energy to it that we felt needed some context, so we added the first half of the instrumental to give it a kind of verse/chorus section before leading into the build section… I had written some lyrics from the perspective of my inner dialogue basically telling me that I was to blame for all my problems and that it was some sort of personal failure that I couldn’t change my circumstances. Those lyrics became the spoken word section from 2:55 onward." –Nick Royall
To my surprise, two verses and two choruses are all we get, as the back half of the track is dedicated mostly to an extended instrumental jam section/outro that I ended up really falling in love with. Kate busts out a truly ripping guitar solo that has a distinctly singable melodic character; set lyrics to this, and in another alternate version of this song, it could have been the chorus. Underneath the guitar solo, distorted spoken vocals break the surface in the distance, reading out lyrics like "Acquaint yourself with failure/You'll find you like the taste/You had so much potential/You let it go to waste", which I thought made for a compelling representation of the self-destructive intrusive thoughts that so often punctuate and inspire music like this. Not to be forgotten are Nick's contributions on the production front, though, as he contributes all sorts of little synth elements that add to the driving, ever-building momentum of this section; the subtle changes in the drum pattern were a particular favorite as mine, as the hi-hats start hitting sixteenth notes and subtle synthetic cymbal notes start shining through in a way that adds a lot to the energy. Ending on a distant crowd chanted refrain of "it's never going to be/it's never going to be", the song takes us out through a chill, meditative outro before fading away to silence.
"For me personally, these lyrics are about taking a leap in your life, but being too afraid of failing to try. During this time of my life, there were so many changes happening to me personally as well as in the world. I was terrified and I recognize now that some of my coping methods were not effective. To at least end this on a high note, the second chorus was the last thing written for this song. For the longest time I could not crack it and then one day it came to me while I was in the shower. Most of my best ideas are written in the shower." –Kate Gallagher
I'm sure one might make the case that "Going To Be (Better Now)" released a couple years too late to be a bona fide pandemic depression song, but in my humble opinion, its succinct, vulnerable presentation of its thematic material makes it universally compelling. Packaging complex feelings into a song is always a difficult task; the medium of songwriting, where words have to rhyme, and where songwriters are constantly encouraged to write shorter and shorter songs, is naturally a very limiting storytelling format. With this in mind, I really love Kate & Nick's decision to chuck away and discard most of the context that actually led to this song's creation in favor of simply communicating the core emotional theme of hopelessly wishing your life had turned out better. This thing is full of great lines; for me personally, the title setting at the end of the chorus ("I thought that I'd be better by now") is a particular standout, but there's no shortage of other zingers that pluck at the heartstrings and hit deep ("You don't need other people/You're better on your own/You can't be independent/'Cause you cannot be alone" is another favorite of mine). Because of the strength of its narrative, this track utterly earns its length, as its long outro section serves as a hugely cathartic release of all the tension we've spent the entire chorus building up. I don't quite know how else to describe the outro other than by saying it feels like crashing waves in the best way possible, dispelling the wild, untamed energy of the ocean and dispersing it peacefully across the sand. This song is sad, sure, but listening to the whole thing feels like a journey that ends in a resolutely peaceful place. It's very emotionally potent, and Kate's gripping vocal performance along with Nick's saavy quiet-storm production both go hand-in-hand in making this thing a knockout combination that ranks among my favorite tracks of the year so far.
"Way later when we had all of the songs from the EP done we felt like this song was narratively a good starting point for the arc of the project, starting from a place of defeat and self deprecation and ending in a place of letting go of what you can’t control and focusing on the things that bring you joy in life. The full project the song is from is called “We Regret to Inform You” and it’ll be out August 28th." –Nick Royall
Nick gently let me know in an email that Trash Bangs' next EP, We Regret to Inform You, comes out August 28th. I'll be marking my calendar for that day, and I very much encourage all of you to do the same!
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As always, thanks for reading! We've got some organizational reshuffling to do behind the scenes, but I promise that we'll keep you guys updated with fresh new articles as often as we can. In the meantime, be on the lookout for 3rd Ave's new single "ESPN", as well as new releases from Deadbeat Girl and whY'Z! Happy listening and take care—we'll see you next month!
–Alex Han
