Listen: Rubblebucket - "Fruity"

photo by Amanda Picotte

Considering the fact that Annakalmia Traver and Alex Toth of Rubblebucket have not only been touring pretty consistently but also putting out a decent amount of singles for the past couple years ("Donna", "If You C My Enemies"), it entirely escaped my notice that it has been approximately four years since Rubblebucket's last full length record Survival Sounds. Part of this may be due to the fact that last year both Traver and Toth put out records with their side projects Kalbells and Alexander F as well as putting out a Rubblebucket EP that it seemed very much like the band had taken no time off at all.

But aside from keeping busy with side projects (Toth even started another band - a solo project by the name of  Tōth that saw him turning to the guitar), the band had been hard at work on a follow up to 2014's Survival Sounds. "Fruity" is the band's first official single from the record and it is characteristically groove-inflected if not more subdued than longtime fans might've expect. It's a introspective piece that doesn't forget to be interesting about promises broken and how time just kind of marches on regardless. "I've said I'll make it to the party but I've got a lot going on" Kalmia Traver coos atop a mellow wave of synths and pulsing drum hits. As the song goes on, it becomes clear it's not just about fear of missing out or upholding some weird social contract but about finding room for yourself when you've been accustomed to operating as a unit. "I let you wrap your body into mine until we're one thing" and "I gazed at your face for too long until my own was gone" Traver sings, recounting promises she's made before offering an apology "I'm sorry, Fruity, but I must find the Earth again". Despite its incredibly dance-y dressings "Fruity" is a breakup song but also a love song. For all of the utterances of promises made and broken, shifted, and suspended; there's a promise that never is. The love contained in "Fruity" is a pure and genuine one that'll remain post-breakup just in a different form.



Rubblebucket's fifth full length album Sun Machine will be out August 24th on Grand Jury. You can pre-order the record now.

Listen: Rubblebucket - "Donna"

Brooklyn psychedelic dance band Rubblebucket are certainly the type of band that's benefited greatly from workshopping their songs. In fact, it's pretty much exclusively how their first songs came to be. Since their inception in 2007, the band have managed to create an enviable mixture of everything from run of the mill indie rock, jazz, and infectious pop into a trademark sound that subverts all expectations of genre.

With the release of their latest album Survival Sounds earlier this year, it certainly was a surprise when  the five-piece dropped what might arguably be their best song to date - standalone single (or now) "Donna" in support of their upcoming Fall tour. But here we are and "Donna" is a positively resplendent slice of indie pop goodness. Rubblebucket's brass-centric grooves are operating at their utmost catchiest and Kalmia Traver's vocals, bold and bright as ever, achieves peak effectiveness. Summer may be over but Rubblebucket give it a proper send-off with the exuberant "Donna". While the track slips in and out of dream logic lyricism - the chorus is almost unfairly strong, an instantly memorable kiss-off that manages to excite each time it reoccurs.

It's the kind of track that has you instantly itching for repeat during the fade and the fact that it wasn't even properly part of an album is just a testament to how utterly steeped in creativity the band is. It's not their most experimental track but it doesn't have to be. In staying on course with standard songwriting conventions, Rubblebucket manage to create a track that's sure to be an instantaneous favorite to anyone lucky enough to catch this particular ear worm.