#108: A perfect addition to the canon of the genre
Honestly Same; Hey, Nothing; Noworrieslmk; Yeah No, For Sure; So Totally; Ya I Feel Ya
Honestly Same
“Honestly Same is an amplified acoustic and synthetic quintet that improvises patient and contemplative music,” begins their bio. Something about “acoustic” and “synthetic” next to each other hits my ear wrong, but OK. “The sound worlds breathe, loop, iterate, layer.” Mmm-hmm. “Honestly Same finds inspiration in insect and frog calls, resonant harmonies, and the blue light of a neighbor’s TV.”
And there we are. To quote the great Jimmy Pardo, “Well aren’t you interesting.”
It’s an interview cliché to ask about influences, and the answers are always boring. The smartass in me appreciates a hypothetical scenario in which Honestly Same answers a question about their influences with, “Insect and frog calls.” While I don’t think they’re trying to be funny here, it’s still a better answer than, like, Brian Eno’s ambient albums.
Hey, Nothing
Have you seen The Perks of Being a Wallflower? While it’s not crucial to understanding the Atlanta/Athens emo-folk duo Hey, Nothing, it helps. There’s a character in the movie nicknamed Nothing, as the book that was the basis for the movie explains:
The kids started calling him Patty when his real name is Patrick. And “Nothing” told these kids, “Listen, you either call me Patrick, or you call me nothing.” So the kids started calling him “Nothing.” And the name just stuck.
The movie tweaks the origin story a bit and adds this scene, which gave the band Hey, Nothing its name.
Beyond that, a major plot point in the book and film is the secret same-sex relationship between Nothing/Patrick and the quarterback of the football team. A frequent area of inquiry for Hey, Nothing is the nature of the relationship between Tyler Mabry (he/him) and Harlow Phillips (they/them), as a web search reveals:
The never-been-more-reliable Google says they’re merely best friends, but stuff like this out-of-context live photo will keep the couple question at the top.
Shipping Hey, Nothing is a lot more fun than pondering the themes of 33˚, their EP from this year “that grapples with the subject of death through the lenses of parents, partners, siblings, & friends,” according to the band. “Yeah, so what?” you say. “That doesn’t sound very notable.” Allow Hey, Nothing to explain the closer, “Death Song.”
‘Death Song’ tells the story of a mother who is grieving the loss of her two children. It follows her as she tries to organically preserve their bodies, leading to her realization that she will never regain their lives, but that they will forever live with her in memory’s [sic] and in spirit.
Everybody sing along now!
Buried you inside
Nearly took all night
And you'll decompose
Before you start to grow
I know
Faced with a song about dead children, I’m not surprised people have other questions about the band.
Noworrieslmk
I can’t find much info about this LA “genre-fluid jazz quartet,” but their name tells me I shouldn’t stress about that.
Yeah No, For Sure
I can’t remember where I found this, but it was described as “the most Canadian name ever.” Canadian hockey players (!) from Saskatchewan (!!) confirm it.
As does comedian Ryan George.
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So which province or territory does the band Yeah No, For Sure hail from? Ontario. But also Indiana and Pennsylvania (though the latter changed its name to the Milktones, blah). My president tells me Canada will soon be part of the U.S., so it’s all the same thing, right?
It’s not clear that any of them are still active, though. The Ontarians haven’t updated their Facebook page since 2023, the Indiana band announced their EP on Instagram in 2021 and never posted again, and even the Milktones announced their debut show in February 2020 then disappeared (though so did the rest of the world).
Is the name to blame? Because neither Right On Yeah No For Sure nor No Yeah For Sure appears to be active anymore, either.
But at least Right On Yeah No For Sure left us with treasures like “High at the Grocery Store” (“i should probably buy some veggies, live a couple more years / i walked out with cigarettes and beer”) and “I Hope That All My Friends Think That I’m Dead” (“id say that shit would get better but thats a god damn lie / shits been goin downhill since tom petty died”).
So Totally
Continuing the theme, a quick look at the Facebook page for So Totally reveals they played a show in April 2024 with a band called Yeah, No! It’s hard to tell if Yeah, No has fallen victim to the curse since, because their Bandcamp hasn’t seen any action since “Jim’s Car Remixed November 2021”—released, curiously, in July 2021:
My name is Jim I hold this city’s key
Come to the bathroom do a bump with me
Let’s fuck
What was your name now I have go to go
You’ll hear of me from everyone you know
I suck but I don’t give a fuck
Back to So Totally. The Philly band debuted back in 2015 as So Totally in Love, and while the first rule of Band Name Bureau is “Don’t change your name,” I get it. Technically, they only shortened it—like BNB alums Now, Now (formerly Now, Now Every Children) and Say Hi (formerly Say Hi to Your Mom)—and I understand the need to purge the cringe from their name.
They need to purge their album notes, too. A curious phenomenon in the BNB universe is the local band with a ridiculously long bio. Whereas a new group releasing an album on a cool label will top out at 500 words, some random band that’s never played outside its hometown goes all Infinite Jest.
To wit, So Totally’s notes for last year’s Double Your Relaxation:
That’s 180 words, which is long for Bandcamp’s UI. Yet…“more.”
It continues for an additional, eye-glazing 566 words, practically defying anyone to reach the end. Tightly edited, it is not.1 For instance, instead of saying Double Your Relaxation is the first So Totally album that wasn’t self-produced, it laboriously explains:
So Totally’s tones over each work are especially remarkable as Double Your Relaxation is So Totally’s first in-studio record; in other words, their first record that wasn’t completely self-produced.
At least that’s fairly straightforward. Try parsing this monster that reads twice as long as its 44 words:
Lyrically and thematically, Double Your Relaxation explores where influence and “hypnosis” exist in life, specifically in environment, media, relationships, and self (via mental illness), bouncing between perspectives of witnessing, interacting with, and contributing to illusion and how that ultimately affects our idea of identity.
Because I value your time, I won’t paste a later 76-word anaconda of a sentence waiting to slowly strangle you with comma splices. Just know that the bio concludes like a book report, noting the songs lend themselves “very appropriately” to the shoegaze and “heavy indie” (??) favored by So Totally, “making them a perfect addition to the canon of the genre.”
I’m of two minds about this. First, this is the reason ChatGPT exists. Drop the bio in there, and let the machine work its magic while glazing you about the level of detail. Second, this is precisely the kind of nonsense that is Band Name Bureau’s raison d’être. Where would I be if bands like So Totally didn’t go overboard on their bios? Shine on, you wordy diamonds.
Ya, I Feel Ya
Not to keep on my bio bullshit, but…
We emerge with a story that blends our punk rock roots with the cosmic pull of auditory experimentation. Unbound by rules, where grit meets introspection, and chaos dances with calm. Rooted in immersive soundscapes that echo the complexities of life. With no expectations, we offer only this: Ya, I Feel Ya.2
That kicker is low-key funny and nicely undercuts the horseshit that precedes it. (Cosmic pull of auditory experimentation? Chaos dances with calm? Gimme a break.) Still, the press release for their debut single, “Chattering Mind,” sucks the fun right out of Ya, I Feel Ya’s moniker.
The band’s name isn’t just a phrase—it’s an acknowledgment, a connection. When someone shares something meaningful—whether it’s joy, struggle, or something in between—they reply with, “Ya, I feel ya.” It’s their way of saying, We hear you. We see you. We understand. This sentiment extends beyond the music; it’s the core of their bond. As bandmates and brothers, their music reflects a lifelong relationship built on empathy, authenticity, and an unwavering dedication.
Feeling seen yet?
Because the phrase “Ya, I feel ya,” for me, conjures a couple dudes catching up while smoking outside and sipping beers. Maybe they’re in Wisconsin and it’s a winter night. One of them probably looks like Mark Borchardt. They stare into the darkness, maybe some lights from a parking lot visible in the distance. “How you been?” one guy says. “Eh, fine,” says the other. “Work’s been kickin’ my ass, though.” “Yeah, I feel ya,” says the other guy. They commiserate for a bit longer, then drop their cigarettes in their beer bottles before heading back inside.
It’s specific, yes. But it’s more realistic than this line from the press release: “Ya I Feel Ya isn’t just a band. It’s a bond, a journey, and above all, a feeling.”
POST-SCRIPTS
Speaking of AI, that “Chattering Mind” video is a blacklight poster come to life. Look at that thumbnail!
I’m sure I wrote something similarly laborious to the So Totally bio in high school. I probably shoehorned some band I like into a theology paper or something. “How NOFX’s ‘Where’s My Slice’ Counters John Paul II’s Sollicitudo Rei Socialis,” By Kyle Ryan
Also So Totally is pretty good!
I’ve never seen The Perks of Being a Wallflower or The Flash, but I followed media stories about Ezra Miller’s flameout. Looks like they’ve stabilized and are taking tentative steps back into Hollywood. SOUNDTRACK OPPORTUNITY!
Pot calling the kettle black, I know.
While I understand they’re aiming for symmetry, my brain corrects this to Yeah, I Feel Ya.