Denver's Feral Suits Drop New Single; Collaborate with Bun Bun's Snarklet
/Denver’s Feral Suits are dropping a single from their debut album Drown the Garden this Friday, and we’re stoked to premiere it here first, along with an interview with the band.
Give “Soft Spot” a listen:
Feral Suits came out of nowhere — here’s what we know about them so far:
Feral Suits takes the idea of a garage band to the extreme. They recorded “Drown the Garden” in a basement and a literal warehouse. But even as a garage band they constantly take shots at breaking the mold and catching the listener off guard. We got to chat with some of the band about bringing “Soft Spot” to life.
First up, how do you guys describe your sound? “Garage band meets….”
Elkins: I guess synthesizers? We’ve also given a ton of attention to rhythm and groove. I remember when I joined the band Brian [Obernesser] said something to me along the lines of, ‘We want to do more hard rock stuff than what you sent us, you up for that?’ and I for sure was. But especially then, after losing their former vocalist, the band was intentionally trying to explore new sounds. I think ‘Drown the Garden’ does a good job of reflecting that goal.
That’s rad. So where does “Soft Spot” fit in with the rest of the record?
Elkins: In early 2019 I started writing about being stuck in some house for no good reason. In all the songs [from “Drown the Garden”] I was trying to flirt with that metaphor in some way or another but when I heard [keyboardist Evan Jorissen’s] opening riff, I was immediately taken somewhere else ... I don’t think I meant to be so on the nose but leaving the thematic home resulted in a song that deals a lot with social anxiety-- the band rose to the occasion with such a beautiful and overwhelmingly saturated track.
So far, every song from “Drown the Garden” side-steps singular genre: “My First Car” has got that indie garage nostalgia, “From a Funk” is one big 80’s mood, and “Spokane & Poughkeepsie” is some sort of city surf rock.
How did Feral Suits navigate such a range of material?
Jorissen: Recording this record DIY let us really experiment with different instruments, energies, and ideas. Soft Spot is a direct result of that. Like, for David [Bernot's] saxophone solo, we had him improvise over and over again, and then stitched the parts together to create something really layered.. If that’s not DIY, I don’t know what is.
We also tracked down the intergalactic Snarklet of Bun Bun to talk about collaborating with Feral Suits and asked her about the experience:
I had been recording with other artists the week of “Soft Spot,” so I walked into [Greyson’s] studio all smug, thinking it’d just be one and done. Oh my god— that session kicked my ass. Feral Suits had written the most deceptively simple rhythms and melody lines. Everything was syncopated. I should’ve known though. I mean, if you listen to the album, it’s clearly got a lot of brain power behind it... I’m literally going to have to hit the books before we play it live, because this song is just much more than it seems. Hearing it back after it was all mixed and beautified'; it just left me awestruck.
Vibing with “Soft Spot?” We are too. Catch this track and many more at Feral Suits’ virtual album release show at Dazzle Denver 3/21. Feral Suits will perform this track, along with the rest of the album, live at Dazzle Denver at 6:30PM on March 21st. Tune in on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or Twitch.
Snarklet and Moon Magnet muses, Deth Rali and Yonbre, have a new song coming out March 26th called “Hot Bots” too! Follow Moon Magnet on the gram for spoilers!
All photos per those credited. All videos and embedded tracks per the artists featured and those credited. This feature was edited for brevity and clarity by BolderBeat.