One of the main reasons I launched this website was to showcase emerging artists who I believe deserve recognition. Today, I am happy to present an exclusive background of each track on the debut LP, titled “Of This I Am Certain,” by the up-and-coming band, Townies.  Their latest album is a remarkable piece of work that showcases Townies impressive range. Across its ten tracks, Townies seamlessly transition between emo/pop punk and 90s alt-influenced indie rock. Adding to the album’s excellence, Townies enlisted the talents of Algernon Cadawallader and Hop Along legend Joe Reinhardt to produce the record. In my opinion, Townies have the potential to make a significant impact on the indie rock scene in the years to come, much like The Hotelier and Spanish Love Songs have. Read what Townies had to say about each of the tracks on their new album below.

Gallows – this was definitely one of the earlier tracks we assembled when we were writing the album, and the inspiration actually came from a voice memo I found from 2019 called “nub tail”. I was like “oh yeah, I remember this riff…I should expand on this”. There’s a section after the first chorus during the main riff where the whole band kinda abruptly pauses on some notes, which is a direct reference to some of the stuff Macseal is so good at in their songwriting – trying to keep the listener on their toes. I was also definitely going for an Origami Angel vibe with some of the faster melodic vocals in the first verse. We knew pretty early on that this would be a great way to start the album.

Phillip, Burn The Piano – this might be my favorite song on the record because I’ve been sitting on it since 2019. I remember writing this my junior year of college in my bedroom one night with the goal of having really deliberate lyricism rather than just letting words flow out naturally. Like hey, what if I actually thought really carefully about every line…funny how that works. We never thought it would be a Townies song and I actually recorded demos at one point to do a solo EP with some softer tracks. But as we were writing the album we agreed that there was a path to making it feel like a big rock song, and Nolan and Chris really brought the life out of this one. I think hearing this mix was the craziest moment for me, after 5 or 6 years of listening to an old voice memo and thinking no one would ever hear it. 

Auzzy’s Song – first off, shoutout to our boy Auzzy who is literally by our side through every milestone this band accomplishes. We seriously wouldn’t be the same band without him. I actually wrote the first two verses of this song completely as a joke — like one verse about Chris playing video games and another verse about the Celtics losing in the finals and stuff. But man, that melody was so catchy that I felt like there could be something there. It turned into a pretty cool reflection on being in your 20s and how nothing you do matters, how the thought of paying forward the life your parents provided you seems like a completely impossible task. But I think it ends on a positive note, with that last verse looking towards the future and adjusting one’s lifestyle to be healthier and more fulfilling. The rhythm section goes crazy on this track. I love the way the pulsating bass line came out… makes you wanna dance!

Faux Pas — Faux Pas and Phillip were actually written within a few weeks of each other in 2019, so this is another one that I’ve been sitting on for years and can’t fathom the idea of it being available for anyone to hear. The lyrics kinda deal with stoicism and those moments where you know you should be emotive but just can’t really bring yourself to feel anything, whether that be among tragedy or relationships or whatever. I think this might be the best song that we have, which is funny because when we left the studio I remember thinking “man, we might end up cutting this from the album. There’s no way that worked.” This was another one that I recorded a demo with intentions of an acoustic album because it felt so different from townies. I remember Chris adding this crazy bassline to the song and it changed my entire perspective on what the track could sound like. I think the best decision we made was adding this to the tracklist. 

Jake Hemmerlein — if you don’t count Faux Pas and Phillip, this was actually the first song we wrote after the Broc EP. I think it was just me and Nolan jamming one day before Chris had moved to California and this one came together quick. Just a high energy, really fun track that has a lot more to say instrumentally than lyrically. That group vocal section during the bridge is my favorite moment on the entire album and I love this track as kind of an easy listen halfway through the record. 

Filed Away — one day I was driving in my car listening to music (as I spend a lot of my time doing) and was thinking how I should be able to charge gas money to my health insurance because it’s my version of therapy whenever I need to clear my head or process some stuff. Then I was like hey that could be a funny song idea. Then I wrote this really short song about it and realized it had potential to be a really cool diversion from the rest of the album. What I loved about doing a full length album was being able to take risks like this — we have 10 songs and 30 minutes to fill, let’s try something totally different. I like that there’s a little country vibe when the snare beat come in because I shamelessly love country music, and that’s an influence that’s hard to nod to when you’re in a punk/emo/whatever band. Plus, having a song under a minute long feels kinda badass!

Dogyard — the song formerly known as “Neville”, and also the song that probably cost me a hundred hours of sleep while writing is. We had this idea for a fast punk song but using the open emo tuning (“Macseal tuning” to us) so that we could mix in some more creative instrumentals. Putting this song together in a way that makes sense was like a massive puzzle where there was no way to know if you completed it correctly. The breakdown at the end was one of the first parts we wrote, so it was like “how the hell do we get there from here”. I was at peace with the fact that this song would be completely out of pocket and over the top, but we needed something faster and heavier to feel like we were properly acknowledging the music that inspires us. The breakdown after the first verse is one of the coolest things we’ve ever done musically. 

Medicine — this song was originally written by Chris, who wrote the main chorus of the song during the pandemic when we were sharing a lot of music ideas with each other. I remember hearing this one being like “dude, this is one of the best hooks I’ve ever heard in my life”. When it came time to work on the album I asked his permission to basically extract that hook from his song and build a more townies-style song around it, since the original version was a very laid back acoustic piece. It was a really fun exercise and was totally new for me with songwriting. What I love about this song is that every instrument has a moment where it really stands out, especially the big drum work at the end. Nolan went full gorilla mode on this one. 

Rust — Rust is definitely the most straightforward track on the album, and kinda reminds me of the mall emo era of the 2000s. I was a massive, massive Taking Back Sunday fan as I was getting into music and somehow this song always reminds me of them, or at least their era. It wasn’t anything fancy but I wrote the whole on acoustic and felt like it conveyed so many things that I want to convey as a songwriter in reflecting on various relationships and love and all that crap. I think we were all refreshed to have a song that’s a little more straightforward and not trying to do too much, because so much of the music we love is like that. Nolan really shows off his chops on this track, to no one’s surprise.

Flip Lunar — we were wrapping up a really long practice one day and literally as we’re starting to pack up, I just kinda started playing this riff. And then Nolan put a beat behind it. And then we got to a B section and Chris started adding some flare to the bass… it was like in cheesy music movies when the songwriting montage happens and a song magically appears in like two minutes of screen time. Similar to Rust, it felt refreshing to have this straightforward rock song that almost had a 90s alt rock vibe to it. Something we’re really proud of about this album is that there’s at least one song for any type of music fan, and I swear I could hear Flip Lunar being played on Radio 929 in Boston on my way to middle school and not think twice. It helps the album end on a really hopeful note. Like hey man, keep your head up, keep doing your best with what you can control, things will be alright even if they aren’t perfect. I think this will be a slept-on track by a lot of people but it’s definitely one of our favorites as a band. 

You can find all things related to Townies on the band’s Link tree.