Nicole Cumming
Stray Monroe is an indie rock band from San Diego, California who believe that rock and roll is alive and well. They even encourage listeners to take a listen to their music to see for themselves. And trust us, you should.
Consisting of Blake Imperl (vocals, guitar), Brett Kelly (bass), and Colin Croft (drums), these three guys are influenced by bands like The Strokes, Portugal The Man, David Bowie, The Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, Twin Peaks, and Kings of Leon. So if you love any of these musicians, there’s a great chance you’ll love Stray Monroe. But Stray Monroe wasn’t always called Stray Monroe.
Fun fact? After forming in August of 2015 and gigging and writing for over a year, the band was originally called The Hype. When Michael Halloran (a San Diego radio legend) recommended them to change their name, they listened.
So in December of 2016, Stray Monroe released their first single under their new name, followed by their debut EP, The Stray Monroe Show (2017). This point of their life was crucial, because if they didn’t create that EP, who knows if their latest single would be out right now.
It was at this time that the band gained a TV appearance as well as radio play with their songs “Muddy Soles” and “Take It Fake It”. It was that success that encouraged them to keep writing, in addition to eventually signing with RockToc Management.
Since signing with RockToc Management in the summer 2017, the album Forever After, was born. Listening to their new single, also titled “Forever After”, the track catches your attention with the intro sounding similar to Barenaked Ladies’ “One Week” with a modern twist.
Once the song gets to the chorus, “Oh what ever happened / Does forever after really exist?”, we’re reminded of Oasis’ “Wonderwall.” It’s all these influences that are catching our ear because they seem so familiar. But this isn’t a bad thing. That’s the point of being influenced by other artists. Every song is inspired by another.
But we don’t just love their rock n roll inspired sound, we love how lyrically relatable the song is too. Doesn’t everyone wonder if a forever after still exists every once in a while? We know we do. Listening to the lyrics of “Forever After”, it appears that they’re talking about someone else at first, then they go on to talk about themselves.
With lyrics like, “Those clowns ain’t got nothing / Write off and it something / I want you to get through / Make up for lost time / Better than the last time / I saw you come on through,” we take it as though this other person got through a negative relationship with someone. Whether it be romantically or not.
As the song goes on with the lyrics, “Nostalgic to the bone / I lose touch when I’m alone / I know I get by / Instead I move on through,” and “Everyone does me wrong / So I move along / I know it’s all in my mind / And now I find / It never happened,” we get the vibe that they’re now talking about themselves. It appears they’re afraid to try like the other person has. So they think the outcomes was always bad, but in reality, it never happened. They never gave whatever it was a shot.
https://www.indiesound.com/index.php?a=track&id=23580
Connect with Stray Monroe:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/straymonroe
Twitter – https://twitter.com/straymonroe
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/straymonroe/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCilhJYS_ATm0k5WHyPYnivw
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