Last updated: 7 hours ago
Oakland, California-based band Neutrals make tightly wound D.I.Y. punk with jangly pop songwriting at its core. They pull from several generations of obscure, guitar-based upstarts, painting narrative scenes and modernized social critiques on instrumentals that would fit well on C-86 playlists or compilations of early <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rough+Trade%22">Rough Trade</a> artists. After a series of demos and 7"s, Neutrals presented a sharp, snappy version of their sound on their second album, 2024's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Slumberland%22">Slumberland</a> offering New Town Dream.
Neutrals was first made up of guitarist/vocalist Allan McNaughton (who was first active in the 1990s in Glaswegian outfit Snugglepuss, then played in the bands Airfix Kits and <a href="spotify:artist:7h6LiGF2IpqJfkQY0SuBkN">Giant Haystacks</a> upon relocating to the Bay Area in the 2000s), drummer Phil Lantz, and bassist Phil Benson. In 2016 and 2017, the trio self-released two demo tapes that captured their raw, self-recorded post-punk sound and drew comparisons to the <a href="spotify:artist:4MlLVFHiA4e7BU7vQ4r5Lh">Television Personalities</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Ve3Nd1OJkRcQeKRTpvxhQ">the Shop Assistants</a>, and other scratchy but catchy post-punk reference points. The group's debut album, Kebab Disco, arrived in 2019 on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Emotional+Response%22">Emotional Response</a> label, and they went deeper into post-punk and mod-pop styles on two 7" EPs, Rent/Your House and Personal Computing, both released in 2020. Neutrals released four more songs on the ever-so-slightly Oi!-influenced 2022 EP Bus Stop Nights before Benson stepped away from the band and new bassist/vocalist Lauren Matsui joined the group. This new lineup of Neutrals was in full force on 2024's New Town Dream, the group's sophomore full-length, released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Slumberland+Records%22">Slumberland Records</a>. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi
Neutrals was first made up of guitarist/vocalist Allan McNaughton (who was first active in the 1990s in Glaswegian outfit Snugglepuss, then played in the bands Airfix Kits and <a href="spotify:artist:7h6LiGF2IpqJfkQY0SuBkN">Giant Haystacks</a> upon relocating to the Bay Area in the 2000s), drummer Phil Lantz, and bassist Phil Benson. In 2016 and 2017, the trio self-released two demo tapes that captured their raw, self-recorded post-punk sound and drew comparisons to the <a href="spotify:artist:4MlLVFHiA4e7BU7vQ4r5Lh">Television Personalities</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0Ve3Nd1OJkRcQeKRTpvxhQ">the Shop Assistants</a>, and other scratchy but catchy post-punk reference points. The group's debut album, Kebab Disco, arrived in 2019 on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Emotional+Response%22">Emotional Response</a> label, and they went deeper into post-punk and mod-pop styles on two 7" EPs, Rent/Your House and Personal Computing, both released in 2020. Neutrals released four more songs on the ever-so-slightly Oi!-influenced 2022 EP Bus Stop Nights before Benson stepped away from the band and new bassist/vocalist Lauren Matsui joined the group. This new lineup of Neutrals was in full force on 2024's New Town Dream, the group's sophomore full-length, released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Slumberland+Records%22">Slumberland Records</a>. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi
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