RISING Philadelphia indie outfit The Ricos, who we last touched base with on these pages when we took a look at and really, really liked their Spirit State EP back in high summer, are back with a cracker of a new single, “What Comes Next?” which they’re releasing this Bandcamp Friday.
We’re delighted to be premiering it here today at Backseat Mafia; take a dive. It’s a nicely autumnal swirl of the sweetest six-string indie noise-pop that reminds us – with that gorgeously sharp-edge, distorted guitar, and the raw passion Joe brings to the vocals – of a more leftfield early Galaxie 500, maybe bouncing around next to the Drop Nineteens. It decays into a necessary howl of feedback; righteous.
The band – singer-guitarist Joseph B Purcell, bassist Connor Wynne and drummer Daniel Fisk-Kallish – have recently been augmented by a second guitarist: Eric Hart, of fellow Philly pop endeavour Motel6, bending the band in new directions and to new sonic heights.
“We just haven’t really put out songs like this … yet,” says Joseph. “I suppose this time around we made much more of a conscious effort to offer some straightforward stuff with no real frills or shortcuts.”
He continues: “I guess you could say we’ve been doing a lot of growing up with this project.
“Some of these songs we’ve let fester for months, if not years, so it’s been super rewarding being able to put these out in the open to share with the world.
“One could say the general theme of the release has to do with uncertainty in general … whether that’s something you’re experiencing on a personal level or even on a larger scale culturally, in some societal sense, or something.
“It’s a shared feeling. I think that’s why we chose to really focus on this idea and play with it.”
They’re not wrong; it’s an anxious world; and they’ve couched it so excellently. It kinda sits as a companion piece to the Galaxie 500 cover of Jonathan Richman’s “Don’t Let Our Youth Go To Waste” for existential yearn.
“What Comes Next?” comes back with a digital ‘flipside’ in the introspective and also lovely “Just Change”. Purchase the brace on Bandcamp and you also receive a digital download for a third song, “Brand New Memory” as a third/additional bonus track.
They’re busy in other ways too: they’ll be shooting a live stream performance with videographer Bob Sweeney in Philadelphia next Wednesday, December 9th. Instead of charging admission, they’ll be accepting donations for two deserving causes: Juntos, a community-led South Philly Latinx rights organisation, and the Philadelphia Bail Fund. Follow ’em on socials to find out your link to watch; it’ll be exclusively on YouTube.
They’ll also be undertaking a direct-to-vinyl live session at Leesta Vall Sound Recordings, Brooklyn, on December 16th. Now this sounds cool.
Joseph says: “Apparently folks pre-order one of four of our songs (“What Comes Next?”, “Just Change”, “Blue” or “True”) and for each pre-order, we record an individual take of the song directly onto a lathe-cut vinyl 7″ just for that one specific person.
“Kind of unorthodox, but pretty cool if you ask me,”
Find out how you can own your own absolutely unique Ricos 7″ here.
The Ricos’ “What Comes Next”/”Just Change” will be out on Bandcamp this Friday, December 4th; follow The Ricos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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