NYC Scene Report – BAD, Sleepy Gary, & Samia

This week’s NYC Scene Report features BAD taking a “Bubblebath,” Sleepy Gary visiting a “Bodega,” and Samia hitting the road for a major tour.

* Grab your rubber duckie, and drop your towel, because Brooklyn-based synth funk pop duo BAD have drawn listeners a “Bubblebath,” and it’s a funky good time.

Comprised of Julia Brex and Jackson Hoffman, the BAD twosome met in high school, and have been working on music together for nearly a decade. Although much of their work has involved songwriting, and producing, for other artists, with BAD they’re letting their funky side show, and “Bubblebath” is a radio-ready tune that should be played at high volumes while driving with your windows down.

Click play, and clean up with BAD.

* The bodega has long been a prominent piece of New York City culture (as has the bodega cat, who keep these places of business rodent-free). “Bodega” is also the title of the first single from indie rock artist Sleepy Gary.

Discussing the song in a statement, Sleepy Gary – who was a member of a number of successful indie bands in his previous stomping grounds of Maryland – said, “‘Bodega’ is a song about letting go, about feeling uncool and invisible, and like a permanent interloper. It’s also about the salvation of a late-night snack in the city that never sleeps.”

“Bodega” is off Sleepy Gary’s upcoming debut album, 21 Love Songs, which is actually a trilogy of seven song vignettes.

“The world needs a whole shit ton of love songs right now,” he says, and with 21 songs, and a schedule of a new song being released every 21 days, he’s ready to spread some of that love. Click play on “Bodega” for your first taste.

* NYC-based indie pop singer-songwriter Samia is going to be hitting the road for a tour that begins August 22nd, and runs through October 8th, and in news that should come as a surprise to no one, she’s already sold out numerous dates, including her hometown date at Bowery Ballroom.

The tour will be in support of her recently released EP, Scout, which includes the single “As You Are.” Discussing the song in a statement, Samia said, “I’m used to being around lots of people all the time, so a year of quarantine forced me to consider which moments were truly meaningful, and with whom. The chorus is a mantra, and a response to the struggle to believe I’m worthy of love in a vacuum, that love can be pre-reflexive and worth our blind faith in it.”

You can have faith in Samia, and that “As You Are” is another winner.

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