NYC Scene Report – Active Bird Community, Baked, & more

This week’s NYC Scene Report features an incredibly fun video from indie rockers Active Bird Community, alt-rock band Baked hoping you’re happy, a smooth, soulful, pop song from Pecas, and indie rock meets power pop act Bird Streets finding some “Direction.”

* Brooklyn-based indie rockers Active Bird Community have released a video for their latest single, “Baby It’s You,” and it features singer/guitarist Andrew Wolfson playing the role of an uber-confident pop star.

In a statement, Wolfson explained the inspiration for the song, and video, saying, “‘Baby It’s You’ is a song about love, but I think the song leaves me with more than just an ‘I’m in love’ feeling, and more of a feeling of confidence that comes from loving yourself. I think it’s reciprocal – confidence comes from self-love, but it also takes confidence to love yourself. This pop star character (director) Nick D’Agostino and I created in the video has all the confidence in the world, and it felt great being that hero for a day.”

“Baby It’s You” is the second single off of Active Bird Community’s upcoming album, Amends, which is due out September 14th via Barsuk Record, and you can catch the band on tour this fall, from September 27th through November 3rd.


* It’s time to get Baked. Wait, put down the bong. I’m talking about the Brooklyn-based indie alt-rock band Baked, who just released their latest single, “Hope You’re Happy.”

“Hope You’re Happy,” which is dripping with ‘90s alt-rock, grunge, and garage rock influences, is off of the band’s upcoming EP, II, due out August 24th via Exploding In Sound Records’ EIS Tape Club.

Baked’s Isabella Mingione, discussed the lyrical content of “Hope You’re Happy” in a statement, saying, “I wrote this during a time of inconsolable sadness where I was suffering from panic attacks and felt very beaten down from the demise of a toxic relationship. It was a way for me to speak out against the depression that was consuming me, and overcome the feeling of being replaced by someone else.” She added that the song was, “Inspired by Alanis."

You’ll be able to catch Baked on tour with fellow Brooklyn-based indie rockers Bethlehem Steel from August 28th through September 8th, and you can hear “Hope You’re Happy” right here.


* When I first heard Pecas’ single “Matchstick” I thought, “Wow! I have to find out more about this band.” So I took to the internet and found … not much.

Here’s what I can tell you – Pecas is a Brooklyn-based duo who aren’t really into tweeting, and “Matchstick” is off of their upcoming debut album, After Dark, which is due out August 24th via Broken Circles.

When it comes to the single, imagine if Hall and Oates had a baby with Ellie Goulding, and that baby slowed down the tempo a bit to create a smooth, soulful, breathy pop gem.

Check out “Matchstick” and hear it for yourself.


* When you find yourself in need a little inspiration, calling a friend is always a solid idea. This is what NYC-based singer-songwriter John Brodeur did when he was in need of a creative rebirth. In his case, producer and multi-instrumentalist Jason Falkner was on the other end of the line, and it wasn’t long before Bird Streets was born.

Brodeur explained his Bird Streets project in a statement, saying, “I used to write about finding ways out of the darkness, now I’m more interested in exploring, and creating a map of that place. In some ways, adopting the Bird Streets name allowed me to write more openly about myself.”
 
The music of Bird Streets is a mixture of introspective indie rock and power pop, with a self-titled debut album having been released on August 10th via Omnivore Recordings.
 
Check out the black and white video for the album’s lead single “Direction,” which was filmed in three NYC boroughs – Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island – and features actress Ana Tinsky.


For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.