Let’s take a journey back to the early 00’s and the days of bands giving away mp3s online to gain a following. I’ve covered a few of these bands in past Lost Gems posts, and today wanted to revisit another: SSRi.
This group is not as disappeared as some of the previous acts we’ve covered. Namely, they do have one album, 2003’s Go! Fight! Win! available to listen to on Spotify, and when researching them online, I was able to find the below description of them:
SSRi is a four-piece band from Hoboken, NJ with a style that blends the music of the past three decades and has been categorized as “power pop”, “alternative”, and “pop punk”. Their sound comes from a number of influences including pop, metal, tropical, alternative, progressive, funk, and rock. The songs are positive, melodic, dynamic, and highly energetic. They never fail to entertain a room and turn heads with their energy, catchy melodies, witty lyrics, and solid grooves.
But, one of my favorite tracks by this band, the very catchy, bubblegum nugget “All Comes Back Around”, is sadly missing from their available catalog. A wiry guitar line and revved-up drumming let the track pop at the start, and the singer’s syrupy vocals make the track soothing, even as it bounces with an energetic pomp. It also contains the lyric “and now they all play banjo in albino gypsy bands”, which for whatever reason has stuck with me for many years.
Take a listen to the track above, as well as a highlight from their available album, the vulnerable “Anymore“:
The Indy Review 