Experiencing the Cosmic Sounds of Boys Go To Jupiter: An Unforgettable Night at Brooklyn Made

“The best band in New York,” says Calvin Rezen from Thesaurus Rex. 

The 8-piece Brooklyn-based band, Boys Go To Jupiter performed an unforgettable set exuding high energy and superb storytelling through their musicality and lyricism. They celebrated the release of their newest single, “Tiltawhirl”, by performing it live at Brooklyn Made. 

Boys Go To Jupiter is like no other band. They are the type of band with the most spirited and exuberant sets that hold your attention for the entirety of the show. The first time I (Ronnie) saw them was at a backyard show where the members had all come out, and seeing a horn section was exciting, but once I saw the lead singer, Jess Kantorowitz, come out in a lifeguard swimsuit and a snorkel, I knew they would become a favorite. 

The Brooklyn Made show was the first time I (Amy) had seen BGTJ and I truly was blown away. Not only by their performance but also by their teamwork and collective energy. Watching the band bounce off one another's energy and continuously hype each other up made me more excited to be there! Their playfulness on stage showed a sense of comfort with the audience and confidence in their performance.

The show’s setlist flowed beautifully, as a planned album would, where the audience is taken on a journey of varying melodies, storylines, and emotions. The set starts with their released song “Overconfident”, which allowed their fans to get into a groove of dancing and jiving as the night had just begun. As the newly released single, “Titltawhirl”, began, the energy in the room only grew. They had stated it was the first time the song was played in New York, which only made their performance more special. 

As the upbeat part of the set slowed down with two unreleased tracks, an intimate moment between Kantorowitz, Caleb Martin-Rosenthal, and Luke Volkert is shared as a spotlight shines on them and they sing melancholic songs that display Kantorowitz's beautiful vocal range as she pours her heart out on stage. Having those moments that slow down a show is so important to be able to exhibit the differing levels that the band can actually deliver. The ability to go from a vivacious, whimsical performance to being able to slow down and convey such vulnerable and passionate emotions takes true talent, something this band holds. 

They picked it back up with their unreleased song of the working title, “Virginia”, which is when they were joined by Calvin Rezen and Dan Macdonald from Thesaurus Rex, one of their brother bands, for two songs, making it feel even more like a party. The storytelling through the lyricism is both exciting and clever, and Jess’ vocals further portray that. Then they followed up with their most popular song, Wall Street, which made the crowd go wild, singing and dancing along. Their unique songwriting creates such an open space for performing that also allows the audience to feel connected to those on stage. More exciting unreleased tracks were played ending their set, or so we thought as they came back for an encore where they ended it with their own theme song! They had established the theme song as something that must always return with each show, so now people anticipate hearing it. 

They have built up such an incredible fanbase that, despite most of their songs being unreleased, everyone knew each word. It was evident in how the second a song started, the audience would erupt in excitement as they knew what was to come. For the song “Virginia”, once Kantorowitz introduced it as a ghost story the audience immediately understood the following song. 

This understanding amongst fans for the call and response from the band and audience has been building over the years. Boys Go To Jupiter, creates a spectacle with each performance that makes it impossible not to purchase another ticket, and with each return, you start to learn the words of every song, even the unreleased ones. As a fan, you start to notice the small details in the themed attire they wear on stage. For example, the beach theme they did at the backyard show, the galaxy theme they did at Mercury Lounge in February, and even their Brooklyn Made, they came out in distressed uniforms, all in suits and ties. \

The community that comes from the band doesn’t only appear in the crowd but also onstage with the dynamic they have as a band. Everyone shines on stage, as they all take their part to showcase their talents. With a saxophone, a trombone, AND a trumpet, the horn section added elements to their indie rock sound that elevated the atmosphere. Each member in the horn section also took time to have individual solos, where within each solo the other band members cheered them on, truly showing joy and pride in listening to them. I can only describe it as the most beautiful clashing of instruments and vocals in one place. 

Boys Go To Jupiter has completely established itself as a band, which is seen in the fanbase that understands them and is devoted to them, their live performances, and their music. This conciseness shows up in the tightness of their sets, as they have established a stable presence full of jokes, audience interactions, a flow between each song, and their ability to deliver an incredible set all while having fun onstage with one another. Boy Go To Jupiter is one of the sets you cannot miss, and you can catch them at Little Field on July 13  alongside other exciting acts.

Written by Amy Kapel and Veronica Anaya

Photographed by Veronica Anaya

From Bedroom Crooner to Global Sensation: A Discussion of ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ by Billie Eilish

This year has proven to be one for music history books. With famed artists such as Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande dropping chart-topping albums earlier this year, we were all biting our nails in anticipation of the release of Billie Eilish’s third studio album, ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft.’ The title, along with the imagery of Billie being pulled into deep, dark waters for the album’s cover, was a promise from Billie to return to the raw and honest art that we have all grown to love her for, and she did not disappoint. Billie and Finneas have managed to craft a true work of art that speaks to the soul in numerous ways that can only truly be heard through several listening sessions. If you were not a “Billie-stan” before, this album is sure to surprise and comfort you simultaneously. 

At only ten tracks, ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ is Billie’s shortest studio album to date. However, this did not stop her from being able to connect with her audience and fully articulate the song’s emotional weight.

The album opens with “Skinny”, a tragic ballad about the detrimental effect heavy scrutinization has on self-image. With lines like, “People say I look happy / Just because I got skinny,” this opening track deeply resonates with the misery that exists because of people’s need to comment on every aspect of your life. This is especially true for celebrities who became famous at a young age and have had their entire childhood on public display (“Twenty-one took a lifetime”). Its spacious, aching string quartet makes the song feel almost as if it were a sister song to “What Was I Made For? (Billie’s Oscar-winning track from “Barbie”).”

Following right after “Skinny”, the sure-to-be club hit “Lunch” perfectly and humorously conveys the primal attraction you could have for a person, specifically a woman in Billie’s case (Let’s go Lesbians!). The rhythmic, yet progressive, production feels like a return to the playful pop seen in Billie’s debut album, ‘When we all fall asleep, where do we go?’ My personal favorite lyric in the track, besides “I could eat that girl for lunch,” is definitely “Tell her, ‘Bring that over here’ / You need a seat? I’ll volunteer.” Every line, bass strum, and snare hit work in sync perfectly to create this summer gay-pop banger we knew we desperately needed (Sorry, Jojo.).

Next on the track list is the ethereal “Chihiro.” Inspired by the Studio Ghibli movie “Spirited Away,” it takes listeners into a different spiritual realm with its muted vocals and thick, milky bass. Playing on the themes of its muse, “Chihiro” evokes feelings of longing and missed connection. The repetition of the line, “Open up the door / Can you open up the door,” conveying that search for love but in such an innocent way that reminds me of the film’s ten-year-old protagonist, also named Chihiro. The end of the track transitions into an arpeggiated synth that completely overwhelms the track by the end, a technique used by many DJs to rile a crowd, adding to the album’s overall motif of being drowned out by your own feelings. 

“Birds of a Feather,” is sure to become a timeless hit in the years to come. This song is a true testament to the quality of talent shared between both Billie and her brother Finneas. There is no other feeling that can explain this track other than love in its purest form. Every time I hear, “I don’t know what I’m crying for / I don’t think I could love you more,” I can literally feel my body become overwhelmed with pure positive emotion. This is truly a song for people who feel so hard that they don’t know how to put it into words. My favorite part of the track is the lead synth line, which almost seems to mimic a bird’s tweeting making the track feel like a run through a field of sunflowers. Anyone who believes Billie Eilish only makes sad music is sure to be shocked by this one. 

“Wildflower” and “The Greatest” both serve as soft, yet extremely heartbreaking, acoustic cushions in the middle of the album. Both tracks slow the pacing down immensely, but they both raise the stakes in terms of emotional complexity. “Wildflower” dips into the extremely complex emotions of being in a relationship with your friend’s ex, and the toll that can take on someone’s psyche even if neither the friend nor the ex seem to care. “But I see her in the back of mind all the time / Like a fever Like I’m burning alive, Like the Sun,” evokes such a strong, aching feeling in listeners that is extremely reminiscent of the guilt being communicated. “The Greatest” is a track that also conveys a profound, lingering feeling. However, this song caters towards the self-sacrificing ways in which we can engage with love. It talks about how we can try anything just to feel the same appreciation that we give from a partner. This track is self-deprecating and soul-crushing in the most beautiful ways.

[Fun Fact: Throughout the entire album, Billie belts higher than we’ve ever heard from her, reaching a D5 in the climax of “Birds of a Feather”]

Billie digs into her jazzy inspirations for “L’Amour de ma Vie.” Billie and Finneas were not afraid of getting mean in this one. In heavy contrast with the previous song, it tells the very relatable story of the potentially messy aftermath of a relationship and the nonchalant energy we can get post-breakup. It is sung from the perspective of a person who did not feel the love as strongly as their partner claimed to feel themselves. The tone shifts from apologetic to more accusatory once it gets to the lyric, “You said you’d never fall in love again because of me / Then you moved on immediately.” This tone is carried into the shift from minimalist jazz to autotune techno through the closing lyrics as Billie screams, “I'm so glad it’s over now.”

“The Diner” is a return to the villain-esc, darker sound heard from Billie in songs like “you should see me in a crown” and “bury a friend.” Drawing on inspiration from personal experience, Billie sings this eerie track from the perspective of a stalker. Like the other songs mentioned, Billie and Finneas made excellent usage of vocal distortion and a raw, unsettling style of production to create the perfect track for strutting the streets on both Halloween and New York Fashion Week. 

The penultimate tracks “Bittersuite” and “Blue” show off Billie and Finneas’ excellent ability for blending songs within songs. “Bittersuite” is a moody love track that opens with an artful use of Billie’s airy vocals and synth distortion, transitions to a reggae-like groove very reminiscent of Bossa Nova, and ends with a synthesized version of the melody of the first half of “Blue.” During my first listen, I marveled at how Billie and Finneas were able to smoothly blend seemingly completely different sounds to be cohesive to this singular story they were attempting to convey. “Blue” is a blast of nostalgia for any long-time Billie fan. Billie wrote the first half of this track, nicknamed “True Blue,” shortly after releasing “Ocean Eyes” in 2016. Unfortunately, the original demo got leaked on the internet, and many fans lost hope in ever hearing a finished “True Blue.” However, Billie not only released a reworked, finished version of the song but also combined it with the haunting “Born Blue” to create this beautiful closing track. It completely encapsulates the energy of the entire album. Billie and Finneas even go as far as to reference lyrics or phrases from the whole album just within the first verse. It is tear-jerking. It is groovy. It is storytelling at its best. The usage of a leaked song from the beginning of her career on a track about the tragedy of childhood fame is pure genius. "Blue” is the perfect way to end the impactful piece of work that is ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft.’

If you are a fan of dissecting music production and symbolism, want new songs to add to your gay club playlist, or desire to hear the most depressing lyrics written in the past 3 years, then this is the perfect album for you.  Billie Eilish and Finneas are masters of the dedication and attention to detail it takes to create such a successful project as this. Debuting at #1 in over 14 countries and getting over 500 million streams in less than a week, this is Billie’s most successful album to date. Billie has truly found her specific sound in music, and it is exciting to see both her and Finneas grow and mature while remaining the insanely talented artists we have grown to love. I truly recommend listening to this album in the dark all alone. Do not listen to the music and wonder who Billie wrote it about. Instead, listen as it relates to you. Who do you see in the back of your mind? Who is your bird of a feather? Who do you want to eat for lunch (metaphorically, of course)? Listen fully and listen deeply. Something may hit you harder than expected. 

Written By Jai Leprince

"Deliverance" Komodos' New Single

Komodos, a Brooklyn-based garage-rock post-punk band with influences that stray from just one genre label, recently came out with their second single, Deliverance. 

Following their first release, The Score deviates from the liveliness of their lyrics and adds range to their sound, adding an angsty edge to their lyricism and overall production. 

Deliverance starts with the isolation of a droning note and the beginning of the drum beat. The isolation that is noted at the beginning of the song repeats twice, highlighting key moments within the lyricism and emphasizing guitar riffs and drum beats. The structure of a Komodos song tends to show off their skills in understanding the power of isolation and emphasis as they create remarkable crescendos, not just instrumentality but through the emotions lyrically. 

There are two instances in Deliverance, besides the beginning, where all drops except the bass and the drums which result in the lyrics having a spotlight. This is where you can hear the lyrics clearly as Taran Dugal, lead singer and guitarist of Komodos, sings “There’s snakes in the grass,"  “Bite your tongue, get inspired,"  and “The curtains close, Don't you know I burned the brakes last night?"  some of my favorite lines. During this part of the song, Dugal continues to sing with more urgency and passion as the instruments build themselves back up, allowing the listeners to experience what Dugal feels. 

What is interesting about Komodos is the production that goes into their unique sound. There are influences of Julian Casablanca with the distortion of the microphone on Dugal's voice that creates this muffled sound, making him sound further away, almost as if you're listening to this song play on the radio. The distorted sound is pretty reminiscent of post-punk bands because, in contrast to the vividness of the instruments, it has a heavier tone that adds a sense of rawness to the song. The instruments themselves do not have that distorted sound except for the lead guitar, which blends the deeper tone of the voice with the intensity of the drumlines. 

They successfully blend two contrasting genres of post-punk and rock by bringing in elements of garage rock and punk rock, as the use of contortion blends them well, resulting in them creating a new sound for themselves. The warped sound comes from the instruments, but the use of drones that I previously mentioned makes their sound unique. This added element can be heard evidently in many garage rock bands of the 90s, but this sound was huge during the punk rock era, reminding me of bands such as The Velvet Underground and The Stooges of the late 60s and early 70s. The droning sound created this ambiance of darkness and creativity and had lyrics that spoke out against issues, their beliefs, and their morals, which is what Komodos do in their way. 

When you listen to Komodos, I wouldn't say they sound like any other band, but rather, when you listen closely, you can hear the influence that they pull from, honoring bands and musicians from different generations they have pulled from to create their indescribable sound. If you’ve followed this band for a while now, as I have, you will know that they had an EP out before these two singles. It's incredible to see how their sound has evolved and how they've grown into it.

Written by Veronica Anaya

Photography by Kabir Dugal

Listen to Komodos latest single, Deliverance, and more from them!