"I never know what to say in these awkward situations/Do I talk about the weather? The weekend?"
Amber Lewis and Ethan Murphy have worked hard and have been pretty lucky. The indie-pop duo better known as Planet Loser has already been picked up by Virginia Indie label 6131 Records (former home to Julien Baker before she broke out). The Losers also have enough energy and potential to have enough material for an album by the end of the year if they keeps going. The duo’s latest single, “Sunbeam,” is no exception.
Imagine the tempo and pace of a Cranberries song, but smoother, and in a world where the late Dolores O’Riordan isn’t Irish.
The first half of the tune is about a couple meeting up on a beach; the second half, styled more like a monologue you see in theater, is about being in therapy, and never knowing what to say in an awkward situation. In the chorus, Lewis repeats, “You left me with no sense of self/No longer waiting for you to show,” as Murphy plays a mid-90s grunge lick on electric guitar.
Could it be that this patient has a tendency to make every situation awkward?
If you’re interested, 6131 Records showcases other artists in Tampa, such as punk band Horsewhip’s solid 2018 seven-tracker self-titled record as well as local alternative band Merchandise’s Morrisey-inspired record After The End.
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This article appears in Best of the Bay 2020.