NYC Scene Report – Shybaby, Sarah Bernstein, & Margaux

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Shybaby getting Intimate, Sarah Bernstein earning the title of “Loser of the Year,” and Margaux digging into her “DNA.”

* NYC punk rock artist Shybaby released her blistering full-length debut album, Is This Intimate, last month, and it’s quite the wild ride.

Discussing the album in a statement, she said, “I’ve gotta get this off my chest. There’s no one right way to do any one thing, and there’s never any world in which something is perfect, or will make everyone happy. When I write songs, it’s the only place I can persuade myself not to overthink. I’m not embarrassed to be embarrassing, and there’s no one else that’ll suffer the consequences of what I say but myself. I’ve spent too much of my life afraid to do what I love, or to tell people that I love them, to keep it to myself any longer.”

One person Shybaby clearly loves, and who clearly loves her back, is someone named Kiki, as the first song on the album is titled “Kiki doesn’t like it when you leave me at the party.”

Both the song, and video are an absolute blast, and make me want to be in what I have to assume is a completely raucous crowd at one of Shybaby’s shows.

Oh, and if Kiki’s reading this, don’t worry, I won’t leave Shybaby at the party! That said, it does seem like the party is wherever Shybaby goes.

* Moving from punk rock to pop-punk, up next is Sarah Bernstein, and her recently released single, “Loser of the Year.”

The song is something Bernstein unearthed from the depths of her past, as she explains she wrote the original version of it back when she was 17, and rediscovered it just last year. “I came across it in the archives of an old laptop last summer, and shared it with my boyfriend, Allan. Shockingly, it didn’t make either of us cringe. Instead there was actually something really special about it that I noticed my songs didn’t have anymore. I’m happy to have that back.”

She’s happy to have that special feeling back, and you’ll be happy when you click play, because “Loser of the Year” is a big winner.

* Closing things out this week is singer-songwriter Margaux, whose recently released single sees her digging into her “DNA.”

Discussing the song in a statement, she said, “It’s that giant space you must confront when your first relationship ends … this song was living there. ‘DNA’ is trying to make sense of heartbreak through a layering of raw acoustic sounds, and electronic angst.”

Making sense of heartbreak isn’t easy, but with “DNA” Margaux makes it sound so damned good. Give it a spin, and wrap yourself in the double-helix of very relatable vibes.

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