From the focus on vocals to the tone of their instrumentals, there’s a lovely, distinct warmth and brightness to Tallahassee-based indie group bandanna that emerges in beautifully subtle and wonderfully unpredictable ways. Formed a little under two years ago around then-solo artist Anna Griffith and after signing to Cat Family Records, the band has grown to include bassist Tim Holder, drummer Nick Bell, and keyboardist Mason Palanti; “Fire Escape,” released this past summer, is the group’s first single as a collective band, and the first from their upcoming debut album uncertain/ty. After a quick count to three in French at the opening, the guitar immediately goes to work laying a stable foundation for Griffith’s soft, yet remarkably resilient vocals, floating and hovering gently at the chorus when that same foundation falls out from underneath them.
Despite Griffith’s honeyed tone, the narrative points to a relationship with someone unreliable, for she sits and waits for them, “wondering if [they’re] gonna call or if [she] should go home.” However, there’s a sense of unconditional love for this person in spite of their blatant, seemingly consistent unreliability, for she finds herself lingering, both on the fire escape as well as in her thoughts, admitting “cause I won’t lie/ you make me wanna try.” But even after an guitar-fueled, color-laden bridge akin to a brief, but potent moment of personal rumination, it returns to her sitting on the fire escape, indicating a potentially never ending cycle.
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photo courtesy of artist
kid with a vinyl 