Is/Is - III

Really quite excited to be sharing new music from Is/Is, a Minneapolis band that had brought itself to my attention last summer following the release of a great 7-inch. A few months ago they released the single for "Hate Smile," which would lead into the release of full length III, put out just a couple of weeks ago.

I rarely find and appreciate new bands as well as the old goodies that've stuck in my record collection for however many years, but Is/Is has become a new favorite because they are nostalgic for the grungy '90s without sounding dated, dark without playing Goth, as suitable for a girls' car ride as for a night of wallowing at home. Their music is for the smart, independent (not indie, but genuinely independent) music fan, the band that a 14-year old girl might've heard and fantasized about fronting, were she more with it than her freshman pop-loving peers. As a young teenager in the '90s, I felt like the only girl in school who knew about PJ Harvey's Rid of Me. Were I a teenager today, I'd feel special for knowing about Is/Is. They're for the girl who takes pride in being a misfit and slightly more with it than the others, whoever the others may be. They are ratty bangs, and denim, and your first cigarette. And yet, they appear like they might fit into a scene, which is disappointing, because they're a band that you want to belong to you, and only you.




Sample III here: