Lamniformes Radio Roundup: November 2020

Featuring Tallbird and True Blossom

In the last month I recorded two podcasts with two guests each from independent pop acts. I didn’t plan that, but its neat that it worked out that way.

First up, Tallbird. I met Danny at a party and we were both shocked that despite growing up in the same neighborhood at the same time and both being musicians that we had never crossed paths before. Back in March the two of rectified that by playing a cover of “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” together at a benefit show for the Bernie Sanders campaign. This was the last show either of us would play before lockdown.

Danny and his bandmate Erica however were not deterred by a global pandemic however, and went on to release their first full length album, Lost Pet Poster Design on September 25th. As I described it in our conversation the album feels like summer 1998. Bright, shimmery guitars, horns, beats inspired by 90s rap, samples from across the world, and most importantly a keen sense of melody. I had a blast talking to both members of the band in this episode about the album and their creative process

Next, True Blossom. I met Sophie and Chandler while on tour with Gabby’s World in winter 2018 when we played a show together in their home city of Atlanta. We all got along swimmingly and Sophie was gracious enough to let us crash at her place after the show and in our subsequent trips through Atlanta on later tours. By the way, if you are ever in Atlanta and need to eat breakfast, I cannot recommend Home Grown highly enough. Best omelette I’ve ever had.

True Blossom just released “In Bliss” their second full length through Citrus City. You can throw a lot of signifiers at True Blossom’s sound, I used sophisti-pop and city pop while Chandler cited disco, new wave, and 80s pop rock as touch points. The genre tags are less important than the songs however, and True Blossom are quite good at writing songs. We talked about the album, the band’s origin, and speculated about why so called “easy listening” genres have had a sudden resurgence in popularity among millennials. I also got a crash course in Atlanta DIY history.