Last year’s Ride A’Rolla LP earned Athens’ ferocious pop trio Monsoon a ton of buzz, which culminated in a Toyota commercial featuring the album’s title track. Although national recognition was new for the band, for those paying attention it seemed like the next logical step in the three-piece’s development. This is a group, after all, which has been turning ears and packing bars since their inception in 2013.
This year, however, the band has remained relatively quiet, apart from a smattering of tour dates. And it’s partially this reclusiveness that makes their new video so vital. “Baby Medicine” is an ecstatic return to form for the band, who casually defy labels while breathing fire into the world of pop and pulling from a host of rock and roll inspirations.
The video is a collaboration between LiveSyphon and Athensmade, and though the professionalism is immediately obvious, it doesn’t overshadow the defiant swagger of Monsoon. The session was recorded at Flicker, a delightful bar but a notoriously difficult place to make a live band sound like anything other than a wall of noise. These temporal constraints are no match for songwriter and guitarist Sienna Chandler, however, who snarls through the chorus with the intensity of Kathleen Hanna and the confidence of Shirley Manson.
According to Chandler, “Baby Medicine” is Monsoon’s only love song, a turbulent track that details “A horrible yet passionate relationship that one would see in the movies.” As anyone familiar with the trio might expect, there’s no sappy crooning, only a slow-burning buildup that recalls the best of early ‘90s indie rock. And just like that, Monsoon are back y’all.
More Info
Web: monsoonband.wixsite.com/burnsienna
Bandcamp: monsoonband.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @burnsienna
Instagram: @monsoonband
SoundCloud: @monsoonathens
Twitter: @monsoonband