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| Decent Descent from Happy Pill came out on August 8 |
Pandemic time is weird. There is an elasticity to it that makes some things that happened not all that long ago feel like they did. Wilmington, NC band, Happy Pill, is a good example of that. I feel like they popped onto my radar on Instagram near the before times during the beginning stages of the lockdown in 2020. Well, I got the time of year right, but the year wrong. Local music Instagram was aflutter with mentions of the five piece in the spring of 2021, and then it wasn't (at least in my corner of the world).
As it does, life happens. Umpteen new records came out, other stuff got heaped on my plate, and I lost track. I lost track, that is, until recently when, lo and behold, social media brought mention of Happy Pill back onto my screen.
Hey! What are those guys up to? They put a record out!?! [Immediately adds album to listening queue.]
I'd be kicking myself for missing five weeks of listening to Decent Descent, the group's debut, if I wasn't having such a good time listening to it right now in the present tense. At a time when most albums clock in at anywhere from half an hour to 45 minutes, Happy Pill turn in a true long player with 14 songs running nearly an hour in change. And it is an eclectic blend.
Off the top, "Stayin' Home" hits like early Sneaks when it was just Eva Moolchan, a bass and a drum machine. That leads into "Describe the Light," which sounds like 70s era singer/songwriter stuff until the keys really come in and bring a loungy feel -- in a good way! -- with it. Then there is a series of tunes -- "Crossed My Mind," "Turn Your Back," and "Believe in Urself" -- that carry a kind of John Mayer vibe. I'm no fan of Mayer. He continues to strike me as a bit smarmy. [Sorry, not sorry.] But you can't deny his musicianship. He's got chops. And that set of songs from Happy Pill is all the solid musicianship without the smarminess. And then there's "Thinkin' Bout Food." It's a hell of an earworm, but I couldn't shake thinking about how "Yesterday" started out with Paul McCartney on a guitar singing "scrambled eggs" as filler until the words we all know came along. This song may or may not see another life, but in the meantime, we're left with a super catchy tune.
But where Happy Pill (unsurprisingly) grabs me is when they veer off in a 90s post-hardcore, tangentially shoegazey direction on songs like "See Thru" and "Anyone Who Loves Me." And look folks, don't get me started on "In This Moment." I'll push the elderly and children aside like George Costanza fleeing a "fire" to be first in line to listen to that one. [Editor's note: No, I wouldn't, but I do really dig that song.] That moment where Julia Rothenberg's delicate vocals are juxtaposed with a surging tidal wave of sound leading into the second verse is just beautiful. It's card that, when it's played well, gets me every time. Here, that card is played well.
Some may look at the ground covered on Decent Descent and say that Happy Pill are kind of all over the place on their first record. Poppycock. This is band that is not that long in the tooth and has seen some turnover in that short tenure. But they show a hell of a lot of potential. Hell, I'm more than happy to sit back and watch (and listen!) as they develop their voice. No rush, y'all, but I'm looking forward to what's next. And we've got more than enough to tide us over until then.
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