Tough Guy. is a bedroom pop project based in Bradford, New Hampshire. They recently released, Balter, a 3-song EP that’s a great introduction.
The EP begins with ‘Lull’, the perfect introduction to Tough Guy’s minimal bedroom pop. Rhythmically picked guitar builds the foundations of a simple melody, allowing the vocals to take centre stage, delivering lines about a special friendship or relationship that has changed, perhaps not for the better.
“We tried, leaving is brave,
and doing well is just cleaning up after your own mistakes,
we tried, leaving is brave,
but do you ever wonder if we’re really better off this way?”
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‘Who Knows’ has a little more energy, the guitar strummed behind vocals that are still at the forefront. The atmosphere is similar, focusing on a special person and things that were left unsaid. “It’s getting harder to ignore,” they sing, “all of the things I should have said before.” ‘Sorted’ is reminiscent of Long Neck when they were just Lily Mastrodimos and her guitar, an emotionally turbulent DIY ballad with troughs of quiet guitar and peaks of raised vocals and honest self-reflection.
“I’ve heard it all comes down
To if you feel comfortable”
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Balter is out now and you can get it from the Tough Guy. Bandcamp page as a name-your-price download.