Formed in July of 2019, Eagle Scout is a new collaborative venture between Athens musicians Dylan Loftin (Nihilist Cheerleader) and Hampton Campbell (Kudzu). The duo decided to join forces shortly after Campbell returned from a two-year stint at the Berklee College of Music and the two discovered a mutual fondness for the ragged power-pop of Big Star and the Raspberries. To give the project an extra jolt of adrenaline, they recruited drummer Macarthur Reed (The Pierres) and bassist Max Corley to man the rhythm section and quickly settled into the business of tweaking and tightening their songs. It wasn’t long before the group found themselves holed up at the Glow Recording Studio, recording their debut single, “Something Worthwhile.”

If you’re looking for a surge of positive energy to carry you through another day of quarantine isolation, “Something Worthwhile” might just be your ticket. According to Eagle Scout’s Bandcamp page, the track “…is about the concept of success and an encouragement to accomplish what you want to in life. It’s also about love and being young and seizing the day. We hope it makes you feel good <3!” So there’s that. And to be sure, the song does shamble forth with an intensity that is both sunny and earnest.

But lurking behind the bright, jangling guitars and Heartbreakers swagger, is the understanding that success is often preceded by failure and no amount of bravado can prevent heartache from entering your life: “Talking trash and acting tough / We’re outta cash and we’re outta luck.” Ultimately, it’s this balance between youthful exuberance and the numbing pressures of adulthood that makes the track so relatable. It’s balmy and optimistic, but not overly cheerful. It’s the sort of driving, melancholic jam you want to turn up and sing along to at full volume because it feels good to acknowledge and embrace the larger truth: anything worthwhile is worth suffering a bit of disappointment.

Listen below.

More Info
Bandcamp: eaglescout1.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @eaglescoutheband
Instagram: @eaglescoutheband