Brass Bed

Louisiana-bred indie outfit Brass Bed emerged in the mid-2000s, bubbling under the radar in their hometown of Lafayette. Toiling away at cleverly arranged, occasionally explosive power pop in a town celebrated for its Cajun music, their plight was not unlike another, now legendary rock group fighting upstream in 1970s Memphis. Like Big Star, Brass Bed's influences are more in line with the Beatles and Beach Boys than Beausoleil. Following 2008's self-released Midnight Matinee, they found a home with Philadelphia label Park the Van, which issued the band's label debut, 2010's sparkling Melt White. While a critical success, the album failed to deliver Brass Bed to a larger national audience. Slimming down to the core trio of Christiaan Mader, Jonny Campos, and Peter DeHart, they delivered a follow-up via Crossbill Records. Released in 2013, The Secret Will Keep You turned considerably more heads, earning accolades from major media outlets and making inroads to wider acclaim. Their fourth LP, 2016's In the Yellow Leaf, found the band exploring a more urgent, noisier sound.
© Timothy Monger /TiVo