NYC Scene Report – Loveletter, Madeline Rhodes, & Rob Eberle

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Loveletter burning up on reentry, Madeline Rhodes giving us a “Pep Talk,” and Rob Eberle with some post-breakup reflections.

* NYC-based trio Loveletter released an EP titled Testament earlier this month, and the four song effort hearkens back to a time when Alternative Nation, and 120 Minutes were on MTV, and rock music was being taken in a plethora of exciting directions.

Founded in 2022 by songwriter/guitarist/singer Gabriella Zappia, Loveletter came to be when she linked up with bassist Dennie Gray, and was rounded out shortly thereafter when drummer Melissa Houston was brought into the fold. Each member of the trio are veterans of the scene dating back to the early 2000s, and in Gray’s case, the ‘90s.

Zappia’s reasoning for starting Loveletter was simple, “I felt it was time to resurface,” she said, “I was still in love with New York City. We’d stood by each other, and I wanted to send a transmission out in the darkness, ‘I’m still here – where the f*ck are you?’”

Where the f*ck I am is rockin’ out to Testament, and I think we can all be glad that when Zappia returned to the scene she did not emulate the title of one of the songs from the EP, and “Burn Up On Reentry.”

* If you ever feel like what’s supposed to be motivation isn’t all that motivating, and might actually be doing your mental state more harm than good, Madeline Rhodes has an anthem for you.

Her latest single is an indie pop reality check titled “Pep Talk,” and with it’s positive vibe, and chorus that’s unbelievably catchy, it has song-of-the-summer potential.

By the end of the “Pep Talk” you’ll feel like you’ve experienced an actual pep talk, and quieted the BS in your head in exchange for the moral of the song – “I’m supposed to be my own best friend.”

“Pep Talk” is therapy you can dance to, and you’re gonna love it.

* Rob Eberle is an up and coming singer-songwriter who has been bubbling under in the scene for a little while now, and with his latest single, “hope u feel ok,” he’s ready to break out in a big way.

An indie pop-rock song about post-breakup reflections, and moving on from a relationship, “hope u feel ok” is told from the perspectives of both people who were in the failed relationship, and while they’re no longer together, they do hope the other is doing alright.

“hope u feel ok” will be on Eberle’s upcoming EP, Collateral Damage, which is due out later this year, and you can check out the song 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.