Lunch Ladies | photo by Daniel Topete | courtesy of the artist
Meet NJ dreamers Lunch Ladies, stream “Pick Yourself Up”
The members Lunch Ladies grew up near the Jersey Shore, soaking in the nearly surreal landscape of technicolor boardwalk signs and neon light-bedazzled ride piers on a regular basis. So when the first twinklings of “Pick Yourself Up” float through the speakers, it’s hard not to drift back to those hazy summer days of Kohr Brothers and Mack Manco & Manco yourself. The track comes from the jangly dream pop quartet’s debut LP Down on Sunset Strip, out March 10th via Good Eye Records.
“Pick Yourself Up” isn’t all sunshine and ice cream cones though. There’s something a little post-punk, almost Smiths-like about singer/bassist Cynthia Rittenbach’s wistfully melancholy vocals. Paired with the vibrant layers of melody behind her, energetically contributed by bandmates Matt Whitley, Matt Ramiz, and Peter Gagano, it hovers over the intersection of indulgence and nostalgia.
About the lead single, Rittenbach says:
“You try too hard to make life work for your way of doing things. If you don’t want to waste time, you have to open up a little more and let yourself go with life’s natural flow. I’m an imperfect person, but still, there are times when I think to myself how wonderful life can be!”
Stream “Pick Yourself Up” below and get more information about the band’s March 11th Philly date with Ellen Siberian-Tiger, Brackish, and Whiner here.