Smug Brothers
Stuck On Beta
Anyway Records [2025]
“Smug Brothers deliver one of their strongest and most diverse albums yet!”
Album Overview: Ohio’s indie rock scene has no shortage of great bands, and Smug Brothers is one of the most dependable. The Columbus/Dayton act has been putting out lean, hook-laden tunes for two decades now, but they sound just as inspired as ever on Stuck On Beta, their second release on Columbus label Anyway Records. The 13-song set plays to their strengths by concentrating on catchy songwriting, crisp production, and lots of stylistic variety.
Musical Style: The band shares plenty of musical DNA with fellow Ohio bands Guided By Voices and Swearing at Motorists (which makes sense considering drummer Don Thrasher was a member of both!), but Smug Brothers have carved out their own niche. Their songs tend to be short, guitar-based tracks that combine elements of 60s psych and pop-rock, 90s indie sounds, and modern-day flourishes. Listening to Smug Brothers feels seeing a kickass live band play a killer set, one that leaves you humming their riffs long after the show is over (which is true when you actually see them live too).
Evolution of Sound: Kyle Melton, the band’s main songwriter and lead vocalist/guitarist, says the record “takes off in new directions… and ventures out into new Smug territories. While you’ll find a lot of our sonic hallmarks still in place, new sounds abound throughout the album—lots of firsts of instrumentation on this one.” The record is a jangly indie-pop album at its core, but new elements are noticeable too, whether it’s the saxophone that shows up on a couple of tracks (played by bassist Kyle Sowash) or the string additions on “Cheers To Everything We Used To Do” (courtesy of Sam Kim on violin and Kate Wakefield on cello).
Artists with Similar Fire: The GBV influence is worn on Smug Brothers’ sleeve, but they’re just as likely to be channeling Tobin Sprout as they are Robert Pollard. Melton’s vocals often have an Alex Chilton-like quality, and Big Star fans would find plenty to like in tracks like “Sidewalk Champagne,” while “Paper Jane” wouldn’t feel out of place on a Byrds album.
Pivotal Tracks: The aforementioned “Paper Jane” is an early highlight with its breezy, slightly melancholic feel and melodic guitar lines, which is followed up by the danceable groove of “Take It Out On Me.” “Noble Harper” starts out in a similar foot-tapping vein before evolving into a moodier track, with icy guitars and some tasty sax playing from Kyle Sowash that gives it a an almost Roxy Music feel. “X-Ray Is Everywhere” is a chugging mid-tempo rocker with an earworm melody and laidback guitar leads, while “Cheers To Everything We Used To Do” evokes The Beatles and The Kinks with its piano, acoustic guitar, and strings arrangement. The record closes with another big highlight in “Ozone Bunker,” which starts as a quiet acoustic track before launching into an epic, almost prog-like conclusion.
Lyrical Strength: Many of the lyrics have a playful, abstract style that conjures up collage-like sequences of imaginative images and sounds, like on “X-Ray Is Everywhere” (“In velvet peacoat / Periwinkle epicenter / Reconciled orbits / Plundering a long fate”). There are a couple of more transparent moments, though, like the commentary on the modern era’s combative zero-sum excuse for discourse in “Take It Out On Me,” or the wistful reminiscing implicit in the title of “Cheers To Everything We Used To Do.”
Final Groove: As cliché as it is to say, Stuck On Beta might be the ideal introduction to Smug Brothers for newcomers. It keeps the band’s penchant for pop hooks intact while showing off their ability to take their songs in all sorts of different directions, all while keeping the consistency very high. And if you’re already on board, you can rest assured that Stuck On Beta is another very worthwhile addition to the ever-growing Smug Brothers catalogue.
SMUG BROTHERS REVIEW HISTORY
Another Bar Behind The Night (EP) (2024) / In The Book Of Bad Ideas (2023) / Serve A Thirsty Moon (2019) / All Blur And Spark (2019) / Attic Harvest (2019) / Disco Maroon (2017) / Echo Complex Split EP (2016) / Woodpecker Paradise (2015) / On The Way To The Punchline (2014)
SMUG BROTHERS LINKS
Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Anyway Records
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