This is an exclusive song premiere, part of WBUR's effort to highlight New England musicians.
A dreamy guitar motif layered with swaying bass and a soaring drum beat bursts at the opening of band Otis Shanty's new single "Outrage." The energetic beach rock quiets to reveal a smooth alto voice and rebuilds to the chorus for a sonically playful and lyrically hard-hitting examination of growing up.
"When this guitar riff came out of Ryan, we were like, 'Oh gosh, we're gonna write a banger,'" lead singer Sadye Bobbette explained. "We always say we're gonna write a banger, and then it turns into something soft and nostalgic. This one just felt like it had an energy."
Guitarist Ryan DiLello and Bobbette -- along with Julian Snyder and Jono Quinn -- make up Somerville-based Otis Shanty. It's a 1990s-inspired alt-rock and fuzzy, dream pop band with '60s sensibilities, said DiLello. (On a writing retreat to Otis, Massachusetts, the band stayed at an Airbnb they called "The Shanty," which inspired the name.)
Bobbette said sometimes it takes the band hours upon hours to pull together the chorus from an initial verse, but "Outrage" was completed in about 30 minutes with Bobbette testing out lyrics while Snyder laid down an emotive bassline and Quinn found his place on drums.
"I can't see/ Through the folds/ Of my eyes/ Where I hide away/ The kid who is terrified/ So I play monkey in the middle/ While I heal," Sadye Bobbette sings.
The band's writing process is always collaborative, so individuals don't feel ownership over specific songs, said Bobbette.
The coming-of-age track, out Sept. 13, feels like driving down an empty road on a cool summer night with the windows down, reflecting on who you are and who you want to be. While it leans into a surf rock vibe, the song is filled with the anxiety of not knowing what path to follow entering the early stages of adulthood.
"Too late/ To crawl/ Back and expect all the same little joys/ And, something has me looking in the wrong/ Yeah, something has me looking in the wrong place," Bobbette continues.
"Lyrically, it's about fighting resentment towards yourself and past versions of yourself, and realizing that when things come to a point in your life, there's always someone that's inside of you -- your older self -- trying to pull you in the wrong direction," Bobbette said, referring to balancing the logical, intellectual side with the inner child. "It's just something that you have to fight against."
Otis Shanty submitted "Outrage" for the 2024 Tiny Desk Contest. The band also made it onto WBUR's list of top Tiny Desk entries in Massachusetts last year with the song "Inch Away."
The group first came together at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in 2018 and moved to Massachusetts after graduation in November 2021.
"I tell people that every decision in this band is an agonizingly slow and complex one, but the move to Boston was so obvious," said DiLello.
They found a home on Prospect Hill in Somerville where they could connect with the community, opening their windows in the sunroom where they practice and jamming for passersby. The house inspired the title of their upcoming record "Up on the Hill," releasing Sept. 20.
"We're putting forth the struggle of turning 25, 26 and figuring out how to engage healthily with the band and work and friendships and approach adulthood in a way that feels balanced and fulfilling, while also maintaining our commitments to one another," said DiLello. "The songs explore those inner tensions, and also the joys of when everything comes together."