Nice Try are a duo from Bloomington, Indiana. Madeline Robinson (who also records solo as Madeline Ava) takes on the vocals duties, as well as handling guitar and bass, and Kahler Willits plays drums. Back in February the band released a self-titled album full of short and concise songs (only one breaks the two minute mark) which have a fun and sweetly wistful vibe. Fans of Baby Mollusk, Grubs, et al. will find plenty to like.
Opener ‘President’ is, at its base, a catchy indie pop track, but some chugging guitar takes things into punkier territory as Robinson delivers some pretty heartfelt lyrics (“I just need to learn to be whatever I am to you”). ‘wet willy’ follows a similar pattern, the lyrics about the heart-lightening effect of meeting a new friend,
“push everything bad away
cling on to something new
I will finally let myself feel okay
and it will all start
on this morning walk with you”
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‘patience’ has frantic instrumentation and slightly more composed vocals, while ‘water pennies’ begins a lot slower, just vocals and cracks of electric guitar before the drums come galloping in and we get another lovely indie pop song.
“I knew that when I got back home
not much would be different
nothing has blown over
now it’s October
and what I think about come Fall
is how little you’ve changed
I feel so much older
and colder and stronger”
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The breezy ‘minus two’ hides anxious lyrics, while ‘No Big deal’ is about wanting to go back to a simpler time, an easy life in which everything was no big deal. “I just want it to feel like no big deal,” she sings. “Let’s go back to life the way it was before / talking all night on your mom’s basement floor”. ‘magical thinking’ is bright and defiant in a kind and pleasant way (“Somehow I woke up to see I am essentially free /I don’t need to be told, I’m finally in control / I’m eternally outside on the school bench in the springtime”)”, before ‘Your Hair’ closes things out with a deceptively upbeat song about being in a bad relationship, the narrator coming to her senses and seeing past the other persons’s undeniable charm. “What do I say to you when you always give me nothing? / you make me feel like nothing”.
You can get Nice Try on a name-your-price download from the band’s Bandcamp page. Be sure to also check out their online store, especially to get you hand’s on some Nice Try socks!
