By Josh Hughes
If you happen to “like” Bellingham’s one and only “indie step-dad rock band” on Facebook, odds are that you’ll see some posts about upcoming shows (they rotate through the house show scene up here unlike anyone else), some photos showcasing their soon to be released cat-themed merchandise and assorted videos of the band showing off their shenanigans. In fact, their most recent post features a snippet of an upcoming music video dedicated to the band’s sparkling water of choice, La Croix. While they only have one song currently released on their Bandcamp, these guys are a band not to be messed with, nor a band to miss seeing live.
Step Dads write off kilter, summery rock music that could fit somewhere in a spectrum between Mac Demarco, Fauna Shade, The Growlers and Wavves. “Polaroid Girl,” the single for their upcoming Cat Mask EP, is under three minutes, but it bursts to life with shimmery guitars and slightly distorted lead vocals.
Singer and rhythm guitarist Nate Kahn’s vocals have a nuanced swagger to them, where lines like “Polaroid girls, they don’t make those types anymore now/ I‘m talkin’ very rare film, if you find her make those pictures count” come off both as cheeky and genuine, which seems to be the thesis for Step Dads as a whole. After all, the single’s artwork features an uncomfortably close up image of someone’s face, and there’s an immediate understanding that these guys don’t take themselves too seriously, which is a nice characteristic for an up-and-coming band to have. Their EP should be out by the concert, so expect to hear new material from the band as well as songs they’ve been playing at houses around Bellingham for quite some time.
Opening for Step Dads is Mhostly Ghostly, another local Bellingham band that’s working on an upcoming album, slated for a summer 2017 release. After their late 2016 release Jr., which was a compilation of rough cuts of the band’s earliest songs, this album will be their first full musical statement as a band.
Where Step Dads’ music plays off fairly tongue in cheek, Mhostly Ghostly sound more intentionally epic in their brand of psych rock. The lead single for their album, “Ghostly,” is nearly ten minutes long, starting with a four minute instrumental jam before breaking into harsh yet melodic vocals that bring to mind Modest Mouse. Their earlier work from Jr., while not as intense, maintains a quirky psychedelic vibe, featuring plenty of modulating guitars and jazz-influenced drumming.
A six piece band, Mhostly Ghostly takes on the typical instrumentation of a rock band, but there can be so many different elements working at once that they don’t draw easy comparisons to other bands. The arrangements are lush, but rarely, if ever, does their music come across as overstuffed or claustrophobic.
Step Dads and Mhostly Ghostly will be playing the concert series at the Underground Coffeehouse this coming Wednesday, February 22 starting at 7 p.m.
Featured photo by Ricky Rath // AS Review
