NYC Scene Report – Rivkah Reyes, Minimum Champion, & Joudy

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Rivkah Reyes fighting a battle being “Miss Congeniality,” Minimum Champion with an anthem for the exhausted, and Joudy cashing in a “Three Dollar Bill.”

* Rivkah Reyes is putting on a pair of boxing gloves, and preparing for a fight. The opponent? The desire to please.

This is the theme of her latest single, “Miss Congeniality,” which she explained in a statement, saying, “It’s like I’ve been shapeshifting into whatever version of myself feels the most likable in the moment. It’s that pageant energy of being everyone’s favorite, but still not actually being chosen. I’m very aware of the pattern while it’s happening, which is where the humor and the sting come from.”

She continued, adding, “It lives in that space between sweet and frustrated, like I’m holding it together, but barely.”

The video for “Miss Congeniality” is an homage to the movie of the same name, as Reyes says, “There’s something so special to me about the way Sandra Bullock plays this woman who’s trying to survive inside a version of femininity that doesn’t totally fit her naturally. I really connected to that.”

Check out Reyes fighting to be herself, and then check out our interview from last year.

* We live in a world of constant stress, where burnout always seems like a distinct possibility. With that in mind, Long Island-based rockers Minimum Champion have released an anthem for those of us who have reached the point of exhaustion, titled “I Can’t Do This Forever.”

Discussing the song in a statement, the band’s founder, and frontman, Nicholas Lopardo said, “I wrote ‘I Can’t Do This Forever’ about trying to shoulder the world for too long, and admitting something needs to change.”

The first single from Minimum Champion’s upcoming album, Leave No Trace, which is due out this Friday, as an added bonus, Dan DelVecchio, of Don’t Believe in Ghosts fame, is on lead guitar!

Click play, and blow off some steam with “I Can’t Do This Forever.”

* It’s time to check your wallet, because grunge rockers Joudy are offering up a “Three Dollar Bill” (no “Y’all,” so no Limp Bizkit).

The latest single from the band, they describe the song as “an explosive, chant-ready anthem that balances abrasion with melody while digging into the uneasy cycle of wanting what will ultimately undo you.”

They continued, adding, “‘We are in perfect danger’ and ‘you could never leave, I would never stay,’ lock into a spiraling exchange that feels both confrontational, and resigned, capturing the push-pull of connection at its most volatile, and inevitable phase, framing a connection that survives only through imbalance, and contradiction.”

“Three Dollar Bill” is off Joudy’s upcoming album Permanent Maintenance, which is due out July 24th via Trash Casual, and there’s a heck of a story behind how the band has made it to this point in their career.

Joudy formed in Venezuela, but fled the country due to the political climate. After a stay in another part of South America they eventually landed in New York City, and both the band’s circumstances, and the city’s music scene, are better for it.

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