A staggering amount of new music continues to issue forth into the airwaves, so it’s time for another Fresh New Tracks installment. Today, I’m featuring three recently released songs by, in alphabetical order, British indie rock band Chief Springs, Texas rock band The Metal Byrds, and New Jersey garage punk-pop band Won’t Say Rabbit. I’ve previously written about Chief Springs and The Metal Byrds, whereas this is the first appearance for Won’t Say Rabbit on my blog, and hopefully not the last!

CHIEF SPRINGS – “One Room Past Waiting”

Chief Springs is a fine indie rock band based in and around London and Leicester who started out in 2018 as a two-piece, but eventually grew to become a five-piece consisting of Josh Coyne, Scott Dillon, Sam Crosby-Browne, Dale Bradfield and Tommy Jordan. Together, they make a pleasing style of melodic rock fashioned with elements of alternative, post-rock, and dream pop, and featuring lush guitars, beautiful arrangements, intelligent lyrics and Coyne’s vibrant baritone vocals. They’ve released a fair amount of music since 2020, including several singles and two EPs, the latter of which, the wonderful Time to Take Time, I reviewed last June. Now they’re back with a compelling new single “One Room Past Waiting“, a song about the conversations you wish you could avoid. The song was produced and engineered by Ben Andrews and features additional vocals by English musician and vocalist Kelli Blanchett.

It’s a powerful song, both musically and lyrically. I really like the lush cinematic soundscape and reverb-drenched guitars. The percussion, highlighted by heavy crashing cymbals, is quite dramatic, though I think it overpowers the other instruments and Coyne’s warm vocals somewhat. Nevertheless, it’s a very good song overall. The lyrics tell a story about a talk between a woman and an overworked doctor, exploring difficult conversations and empathy: “Mae said, ‘these meds won’t do anything and I feel worse’. So they said, in my head, you are well beyond the point of reverse. Well, I wish that I had stayed in the waiting room./ Overworked, undermanned, running on empty, drawn like a line in the sand. Just holding out, still holding out.”

Follow Chief Springs:  Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

THE METAL BYRDS – “Working Class”

Hailing from Austin, Texas are The Metal Byrds, a female-fronted band who play hard-hitting rock, infused with healthy doses of rock’n’roll and power pop, along with enough metal in the mix to give their songs a dark, edgy quality. Formed in 2018, the band has undergone a few personnel changes, and now consists of founding members London-born singer-songwriter Suzanne Birdie and guitarist Sly Rye, along with bassist Mac Jacob and drummer Charlie “Breeze” Janto. Over the past five years, they’ve released two albums, four EPs and numerous singles, some of which I’ve written about on this blog. On February 24th, they released “Working Class“, the third single from their 2023 EP Moments Before Sunrise, accompanied by a terrific video. 

The song opens with Suzanne gently crooning “In this box I live in, watch me go round and round and round“, a line she repeats with greater intensity until she’s literally screaming the words, her emotional state at the breaking point. The music, having also reached a crescendo along with her impassioned wails, then settles into a chugging rock groove fueled by Mac’s pulsating bassline, Charlie’s assertive drumbeats and Sly Rye’s blistering riffs. At around 3:30 minutes, the tempo ramps back up to a frantic pace as Suzanne’s wailing vocals return, ending the song on a powerful note. The highly relatable lyrics speak to the drudgery of having a nine to five job you despise, which can really cast a pall over every other aspect of your life: “I come home from work. Yeah my job is boring. I got no sleep, and I’m out of coffee. Ooh ooh ooh ooh, all I do is work./ My life is boring, can you relate?” I love the video, shot in black and white and featuring close ups of Suzanne, interspersed with scenes of her playing guitar and scribbling the lyrics onto a notebook.

Follow The Metal Byrds: Facebook / X (Twitter)

WON’T SAY RABBIT – “Live And Love”

Won’t Say Rabbit is a garage pop-punk band with a marvelous name from northern New Jersey, and also fronted by a female vocalist. Formed in 1989, they’re comprised of Brian (guitar & Won’t Say Rabbit drawings) Tom (bass guitar & keyboards) and Beth (vocals.) Drummers through the years have included Frank, John, Billy, and Juan. Inspired by acts ranging from X, The Damned, The Buzzcocks, Cheap Trick, The Who, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles to the Ronettes, Crystals, and Shangri-Las, their music is high-energy, melodic and fun. They released several singles in 1990, followed by their eponymous album on CD in 1991, but 30 years would go by before they would release more music. Though they never disbanded, they haven’t played any live gigs since 1997, and during that time period, each of them were involved in other music projects, including writing new songs, playing and singing for fun. In 2022, they decided to become musically active again, and began dropping new singles, the latest of which is “Live And Love“.

The song is a rousing pop-punk banger that could have easily been a hit in the late 70s or early 80s, yet still sounds exciting and fresh. I love the strong, driving rhythms and roiling, shredded guitars, and Beth’s commanding vocals have a youthful vibrancy that’s quite appealing. The lyrics are a defiant refusal to go along with things you feel are wrong, choosing a life of positivity and love instead: “I won’t kill my brothers and sisters while Geppetto pulls the strings. Because I know in every war that no one really wins. I won’t do what I won’t do when I know it’s wrong. All I want is to live and love.” The delightful video features puppets representing the members of Won’t Say Rabbit performing the song on a stage. As a final note, I must give Beth a special mention for being one of the most supportive musicians I know; she not only frequently engages with my posts, but also of many other artists and bands.

Follow Won’t Say Rabbit:  X (Twitter) / Instagram