NYC Scene Report – Micky James, Barrie, & more


This week’s NYC Scene Report features Micky James dealing with a “Crybaby,” Barrie being a “Drag,” pronoun having a “temporary tantrum,” and Samia covering Liz Phair.

* NYC rocker Micky James (not to be confused with WWE superstar Mickie James) has the kind of rock n roll vibe that would fit into just about any era. Take a listen to his latest single, “Crybaby,” and I think you’ll find it easy to picture him alongside the Rolling Stones in the late ‘60s, sharing the stage with punk rock acts during the ‘70s, or being part of the “The” bands explosion of the early 2000s. Oh, and of course today! He’s a perfect fit for today!

In a statement, James explained the inspiration for his music, saying, “I wanted to take pieces of nostalgia and give it a contemporary twist,” adding that when it comes to “Crybaby,” “‘Crybaby,’ to me, feels like my most rock n roll song yet. Like all good rock n roll songs, the message and the feeling get right to the point.”

And with that, I’ll get to the point – Micky James rocks, and I have a feeling you’ll be hearing a lot more from him in this column in the coming months.


* Brooklyn-based indie pop band Barrie are still happy to be here. What do I mean by that? In May of this year they released their full length debut, Happy To Be Here, and they just followed it up with a four song EP titled Happy To Be Here (Ext).

The EP includes two new singles that were tracked primarily during the album sessions, and two alternate versions of songs from the original album.

“Drag” is one of the two new songs, and you can check it out right here.


* Brooklyn-based synth pop artist pronoun will be hitting the road this November as direct support for Jimmy Eat World, but if she isn’t coming to your town that’s no reason to have a tantrum … unless you’re singing along to her latest single, “temporary tantrum.”

pronoun explained the inspiration for the song in a statement, saying “‘temporary tantrum’ was written about that moment in the relationship when you realize you've been played. Although in that moment it’s heart breaking, and you feel like the biggest idiot, you know that eventually you will come out on the other end and use that experience to grow.”

“temporary tantrum” is another winner from pronoun.


* NYC-based singer-songwriter Samia has released a cover of the Liz Phair classic “Never Said,” and believe it or not the inspiration for it stems from a comment from John Mellencamp.

“(I) had the distinct privilege of meeting John Mellencamp when I was 14, and played him a few of my songs,” Samia explained in a statement, “He goes, ‘Liz Phair. You’re gonna be like Liz Phair.’”

Samia began immersing herself in Liz Phair’s music, noting, “(I) haven’t had such a visceral, and lasting, reaction to anyone’s music since.”

For her cover of “Never Said,” Samia says, “The original version of this song is obviously untouchable, so I wanted to try something completely different. You can probably hear her influence in my voice, and songwriting, so it would’ve been impossible to record an entirely new version of it, but we slowed that fucker down! Was a real honor to sing this song.”

On the song, Samia is joined by Raffaella on vocals, as well as Quinn McGovern, who also produced the track, and you can check out the video for it right here.


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

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