"I Should've Stayed Home" out March 20, 2021

Music and lyrics by Lindsay Baffo

Vox/guitar- Lindsay Baffo
Bass- Gus Puga
Drums- Tib Van Dyke Jr.
Guitar- Carlos Marroquin

Music and Lyrics by Lindsay Baffo

Tracks 1-8 recorded, mixed and mastered by Danny Balistocky at Rev 9 Recording in Hollywood, CA

Track 9 recorded, mixed and mastered by Michael Keehan at Downtown Rehearsal in Los Angeles, CA

Artwork by Simone Arasimowicz

What's The Craic?

Hailing from Pity Me near Durham, vegan straight-edge pop group MARTHA have just signed to Fortuna POP! and will be releasing their new album ‘Courting Strong’ at the end of May. Providing energetic, impassioned pop punk, Martha are informed by 90s indie rock and Scandinavian anarcho noir. The album, produced by MJ from Hookworms, is laden with harmonies and interchangeable vocals whilst still retaining the energy and excitement of the band’s live shows. 

Formed in 2011 by siblings Naomi (bass, vocals) and Nathan Griffin (drums, vocals) with J. Cairns (guitar, vocals) and Daniel Ellis (guitar, vocals), Martha have fast become a staple of the UK DIY pop scene. There are many competing stories as to the origin of their band name but it’s a fact that the very last passenger pigeon on earth was called Martha. When she died, the whole species became extinct.

Decamping from the North East to record the album at Suburban Home Studios, Leeds, the band enjoyed the freedom of being in the studio and experimenting with MJ’s equipment to produce unexpected sounds. The process saw them opening up to new ideas and, feeling more confident in their own abilities, allowing a wider range of dynamics.

Taken from a line in the song Gin and Listerine, the album title “Courting Strong” is an expression that was used to describe couples who were getting really serious. There’s the old cliché that when you’re young you think you’re invincible and that everything will last forever - the album is about looking back and reflecting on past moments in your life, past friendships and relationships, accepting the uncertainty and fragility of those things and moving forward positively.

The overarching theme of the album is ‘growing up weird’. It’s a semi-autobiographical story about growing up in a small town, with a sense of not fitting in but on the way finding people who share that feeling and forming really strong bonds. It’s about clinging to a sense of belonging and about being proud of who you are and where you are from, as well as the community of which you are a part. It’s an album for the people who stayed in their hometown, and for the people who still go back and visit.

Martha’s melodic punk pop celebrates being an outsider whilst being part of a community. The album touches on uncertainty, fear and loneliness whilst exuding an effervescent sense of excitement and joy. There’s darkness beneath the pop surface - but there are also songs about teenage antics, drinking, courting and having your heart broken – everything a good indie record should have.

 “Martha have mastered that neat Buzzcocks trick of riding those gloriously glowing guitars with sweet, comfortingly-fey voices singing in irresistible harmony. In short, they’re pretty darn great” Clash Magazine 

“Top notch buzzsaw indiepop with enough melodic punk in their DNA to make them stand out. Definitely worth keeping an eye on” Narc Magazine

Martha - 1997, Passing In The Hallway

The Other Side Of Midnight

#SCFIRST

'Swear Jar' is the first single from our forthcoming EP 'Zero' out Friday 25 October via Dot Dash / Remote Control

'Swear Jar' is an optimistic tune about the dumb stuff we fight about in the heat of the moment, and having the patience to find out what the other person really means without judging them on the language they used initially, on the premise that hindsight is the mother of foresight.

____

Lyrics:

it helps to swear if you're hurt,
to scream, and kick, and curse
damning the hypocrites and liars
for what they call friendly fire
when it seemes no suture can make it better
just remember...
it helps to swear if you're hurt

even when you've done nothing wrong
the resentment is just as strong
don't punish yourself for painting fiction
for there's more to be seen in a narrowing vision

if you swear I can tell something's beating you down
we'll dig you out from your underground
it's less like a light switch and more like a dimmer
while the anger is fading, the room will get brighter
same with your language, I understand
there's a spectrum between words like fuck and damn
there's a spectrum between words like fuck and damn
there's a spectrum between words like fuck and damn
so remember...
it helps to swear if you're hurt

#indie #poprock #folk #folkpop #australian #newmusic #alternative

Swear Jar

Stream

Pretenders

Hollow Spheres

Song included in the compilation 3" CD "We are the Time. We are the Famous" that comes with the 10th Cloudberry Fanzine (catalog number 410)! The fanzine includes interviews with Salt Lake Alley, Stephen's Shore, The Seashells, Okama Flannel Boy, The Color Waves, Den Baron, Dayflower and The BV's. 
CD tracklist
a1. Astral Brain - Five Thousand Miles
a2. The BV's - Mould
b1. Salt Lake Alley - But You Do, You Do
b2. Tvärtom - Järkyty
b3. Dayflower - Popping Candy

The BV's - Mould

Nah... - Finger On The Map

"This Is Not the Indie Rock I Signed Up For" can be heard on Girl Friday's 2020 album Androgynous Mary smarturl.it/girlfriday_AM

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