Nautics are a rising New York City-based rock band, newly signed to Bright Antenna Records after spending the last few years making a name for themselves in the city’s thriving alt rock live scene. The band released their latest EP, “Adore”, last year, and they returned earlier this year with a handful of new singles, “Wasteman,” “U23,” and “bum-a-cig.” These tracks are set to feature on their upcoming debut album, “People Only Like Me When Im Leaving”, out on September 25th.
Recorded in bassist Van Cameron’s bedroom and produced by Jasper Harris (Quarters) in his Brooklyn studio, the album finds the band leaning into their hook-heavy songwriting and the high energy performances of their live show, evoking New York’s long legacy of killer rock bands. Today, accompanying the record’s announcement, the band are sharing their latest single, “Knee/Touch,”
After the free-wheeling fuzz rock edges of “bum-a-cig,” “knee/touch” represents a turn towards soft-hued melodicism. Cameron and drummer Levitt Yaffe hang back with steady mid-tempo rhythms while guitarist Kitt Flamer-Calder and vocalist Kenzo Repola pack the song full of intertwined guitars, chiming keys, and lilting vocal melodies. The track is replete with catchy melodies and hazily scrawled guitar solos, but they’re expressed with intimacy instead of bombast, softening the band’s scrappier edges for a lovely and wistful turn. Meanwhile, Repola croons out soft-hearted tributes to love and connection: “Say what you need / Please say what you need / I can’t read your mind / Please say what you need / ‘Cause I need touch / Like you need something to change / Just stop and stare / Like I don’t feel your pain.”
Repola says of the track, “The song came from a slightly near death experience on tour. Realized we weren’t where we wanted to be in our relationships. Realized we wanted to be closer to each other.”
“People Only Like Me When Im Leaving” is due out on September 25th via Bright Antenna Records. You can find the band’s upcoming tour dates below.Records
The Fat Angel Sings 