2020 has sucked so hard, ESPECIALLY for us musicians. I’ve been itching like hell to get back out and play shows again. And it’s not so much just the whole being on stage thing (as much as I LOVE performing) but I really miss meeting new people, smoking joints with other musicians outside before a set, watching bands I’ve never heard of blow me away, etc etc. But musicians and artists alike have this crazy ability to simply adapt. I find it so inspiring to see musicians continuing to produce great content and art, and finding new ways to promo themselves amidst everything that’s been going on. One such band is New Jersey’s Sweep Echo, who recently released a video on Halloween for their new song “Fried Rice”, which will be released as a single, along with a B-side, on 11/23/2020.

“Fried Rice” is easily one of the most catchiest songs I’ve heard in quite some time. While the chorus is catchy enough to get stuck in your head for days, and the lyrics are simple and don’t take themselves too seriously, as a fan of horror movies and their overall aesthetic, the video has a charm that I really dig. Although it’s a song about hiding indoors from a rainy day and trying to quell the inevitable boredom that ensues, it’s above all about friendship, which is embodied in the chorus line, “there is no wasted time when spending time with you”. And if the video impresses anything on the viewer, it’s that they look like they had a damn good time shooting it.

If there’s anything SE seems to know about, it’s friendship. The band’s 3 members all attended high school together and have been playing music together, sometimes in other projects, ever since. Anyone who’s played in a band knows how hard it can be to find the perfect puzzle pieces to fit everything together, but SE seems to have it figured it. Citing influences such as A Great Big Pile of Leaves, early Weezer, Turnover, Modern Baseball, and Oso Oso, I find the bands overall instrumentation to be really impressive. While “Fried Rice” has such a chill vibe, it exceeds expectations in it’s technicality. They are definitely a band I would love to see live whenever live music is a thing again.

Sweep Echo will be officially releasing the single along with a B-side titled “Milly Badison” on November 23rd. They were super nice enough to let me have a listen of both tracks and I’ve been rocking them ever since. If you are swooned with “Fried Rice” as much as I am, I can’t wait for you to hear the next track.

Close to the release date, I’ll be doing an interview with members of the band along with a review of the songs. We will talk about everything from Sweep Echo’s inception to the inspiration for both songs, and what the future holds for the band. Stay tuned!

You can support the band by giving them a like on Facebook, a follow on their YouTube channel and Instagram, and be sure to check out their previous EP ‘I’m Not Afraid of My Shadow’ on Spotify and Bandcamp.