Awkward’s “Misfits” (SINGLE-VIDEO)

There are few music scenes in the American underground that are as iconic nor as recognizable as Seattle’s, and while the Emerald City has been falling short of the success that its west coast counterparts have been enjoying lately, it’s presenting audiences with quite the interesting new sound in Pretty Awkward’s “Misfits” this August. Not solid rock but boasting more of an edge than most indie pop circles will allow for, “Misfits” is one-part Death Cab and another part Pat Ballard, thus making it an intriguing cocktail of its composers’ hometown roots while staying away from throwback territory.

URL: https://www.prettyawkwardband.com/ SMART URL: https://orcd.co/misfits

Though most of the focus in the mix is being directed towards the lead vocal, I don’t think this is a negative feature at all – the opposite, actually. There’s a potency to the singer’s performance in this track that exceeds all of the instrumental output behind him from beginning to end, and while I’ve never been one to put the verse ahead of the virtuosity of a collective band, this is an instance in which it makes a lot more sense to do so. Pretty Awkward aren’t trying to fit in with the mainstream narrative; they’re making their own here, which is commendable to say the least.

Fluidity is key to making a track like this one appealing to listeners of both rock and pop persuasions, and it’s undeniably one of the first elements I noticed frequently when I first sat down with “Misfits” this month. The strings are cohesive with the percussion, and yet there isn’t any black and white discordance breaking the beat away from the melodic foundation at the core of harmony. I’m impressed by the detail here, and definitely wasn’t thinking I would find as much so early on in the career Pretty Awkward have fashioned for themselves.

Every element in this mix is offering us some sense of emotionality at whatever capacity possible, and between the guitar and piano parts alone, I think there’s a hurricane of passion that most any listener will be deeply affected by. Execution is the difference maker in pop’s most memorable studs and duds, and in “Misfits,” we’re seeing a clean-cut Pretty Awkward that sounds more hungry for our approval than ever before. They know who they want to please and how they want to do it, which is definitely more than I can say for a lot of their Seattle rivals.

Despite being together for only a brief amount of time, it’s more than obvious to me that Pretty Awkward are destined to do some big things together. Their local scene in the Pacific Northwest likely won’t have the ability to contain the growth they experience in the next year as they find their footing in the hierarchy of independent west coast alt-rockers, but for the time being, I would recommend those who follow the genre make a point of checking out their new single “Misfits.” It’s a smooth way of getting to know their sound, and I think critics around the underground are going to share my sentiments.

Samuel Pratt