Music We Listen To, feat., Broken Baby
Genre: Modern Rock, Alternative, Post-Punk
Like all articles on The New Haberdasher, this story is presented to you for free. If you like what I do, consider supporting my work with a small monetary contribution at my Patreon and thank you.
I have long said that Republican Administrations are great for alternative music. That maxim certainly holds true from one of my favorite new bands who are bringing energy back to modern rock, Broken Baby. I am waiting for Alternative to come roaring back onto the radio, but meanwhile, I can listen to Broken Baby on the internet and appreciate a sound which is both classic and also very up to date.
I first got tuned into this band when I arrived on Twitter at the beginning of this year. I don’t remember how that happened. I just know that at some point, I didn’t know about these guys, and then suddenly, I did. And I am so glad for whoever introduced me to their music.
It’s kind of difficult to really categorize this band’s music, except to say it is Alternative Rock, in lots of different avatars. The band, which consists primarily of singer Amber Bollinger and guitarist Alex Dezen, both of whom write and perform the band’s tunes, as well as bassist Adam Popick and drummer Brian Griffin, are clearly steeped in the various subgenres and nuances of rock and roll.
Broken Baby have done covers of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and songs which I would describe as drawing directly from a New Wave well, like 2017’s “Shovel Up” (listen above). Some of their music is barely tongue-in-cheek but quite pointed, like the bizarro cheerleader-channeling chant track called “Year of the Fat Man”, from their first full S/T LP, while other tracks are filled with more explicit social commentary, dropped over a solid Late Punk aesthetic in songs like 2019's “Meat Week”. There’s fun disco inspired rock like this year’s “Manic Panic” and straight out Alternative like in this year’s collaboration with Tummyache’s Soren Bryce called “Ctrl+Alt+Delete.” And there’s even some sweet, acoustic odes, especially “I Won’t Make You Shave Your Face.”
The thing I will say about this band, outside of obvious skill at creating fun and different music, is that Broken Baby loves music and it shows. It seems to be the thing nowadays to try to appeal to a wide audience, most of whom are the opposite of the genre-purists that people who are my age tend to still be. It used to be that you could listen to a band who puts out three albums that all sound the same. I love 311, for example, but they have made the same record for 20 years.
I cannot imagine Broken Baby doing this, because their sound and style, even on the same record, is diverse, and spans the range of modern rock. Quite frankly, Broken Baby’s music is interesting. Their records and tracks keep you on your toes. Their musical aesthetic is well done on top of this — Their engineers are top notch, and Dezen, who also performs production for the band, is an ace with his mixing. And so, they are enjoyable to listen to. This band both feels familiar and sounds different from everything else that is available.
Plus, I learned by reading a little about their band, that they love live shows, which means they are naturally oriented toward their fans. They give the folks that like them stuff to like, and they interact with people who listen to their music. I mean, to me, that is a huge plus, and it makes me so much more willing to try new stuff that they do, give it a shot, and generally like what I hear, whereas otherwise, I might never have even had the chance to hear them. This is a good way to keep fans and make new ones, I am guessing.
Broken Baby is also a big promoter of a growing independent/Alternative scene. Through Poor Man Records, founded by Dezen, I got turned on to Human Barbie, whose debut album I recently got the opportunity to hear and review, and Tummyache, whose 2019 EP, and especially the song Median, represents the promise of the return of straight-out guitar driven Alternative to playlists and shows. Both of these artists really are awesome, and their music offers a glimpse of the future of Indie and Rock. Connecting with Broken Baby has opened the doors on a new, albeit virtual scene where cool things are happening, though I may be physically stuck thousands of miles away in the great American cornfield known as Central Iowa at the moment.
Broken Baby is some fun, high energy rock, and their entire catalog is worth more than one spin in your near future. You can get their music at Bandcamp which is good, because as I understand it, they give artists more money for sales than the streaming services — If you want to support independent music and independent artists, that’s where you want to do it. You can link up with Broken Baby on Twitter at @brokenbabybaby, and Poor Man Records at @PMRecordsUSA.
Broken Baby is music we listen to, because it is eclectic and fun and interesting. And so, I think you ought to check them out and rock out, and then go out and support modern independent and alternative rock.
Here’s Broken Baby’s debut LP, Broken Baby.
Like all articles on The New Haberdasher, this story is presented to you for free. If you like what I do, consider supporting my work with a small monetary contribution at my Patreon and thank you.
