Necktie Optional episode 19 (8/20/2026)

Most of the night worked from a hooky, guitar-driven indie-rock palette: Swapmeet, We Are Scientists, Dayton Barry, Juliet the Band, The Brook & The Bluff, Carver Commodore, Good Flying Birds, The Beths, SWEET LEW, Ducks Ltd., The Gnomes, Brennan Wedl, and Dark Sided all sat comfortably in that lane. Kacie Jewel Hill, cup cup, E.G. Phillips, and Yeemz pushed into more eclectic corners, while Kings of Convenience's "Cayman Islands" gave the night its one genuinely quiet moment — acoustic guitar, hushed harmonies.Two tracks carried real backstory worth knowing. Yard Act's "New Beginnings" is the second single off their forthcoming third album, written as a deliberately lighter counterpoint to the darker lead single "Redeemer" — sunny and Britpop-flecked where that one was bleak. Mei Semones' "Kabutomushi" takes its name from a rhinoceros beetle she used to catch in the park as a kid, visiting her grandmother in Japan; the song became a bittersweet ode to her after she passed.The grittiest stretch belonged to Girl and Girl's "It's Dead" — Queensland garage-rock and post-punk, recorded inside a producer's converted meat-fridge studio in Ocean Grove — alongside Minus the Bear and Dismemberment Plan holding down the heavier end of the set.Handpicked, as always. Neckties remain optional.Setlist:Swapmeet | I Know!We Are Scientists | Break It UpDayton Barry | Late Night CarinoJuliet the Band | Red Hot American SummerThe Brook & The Bluff | Super Bowl SundayCarver Commodore | Misty EyesGood Flying Birds | Eric's EyesThe Beths | Dying to BelieveKacie Jewel Hill | Patternscup cup | Lamps PlusE.G. Phillips | The Speed of CausalityKings of Convenience | Cayman IslandsThe Red Thread | In ReturnTwin Bloom | Summer's GoneFrancis of Delirium | Modern MadonnaYard Act | New BeginningsMei Semones | KabutomushiSWEET LEW | fancy homeYeemz | Brace for ImpactDucks Ltd. | Cathedral CityGirl and Girl | It's DeadThe Gnomes | Matter of TimeBrennan Wedl | Pretty Little FantasyDark Sided | Still HereMinus the Bear | HoorayDismemberment Plan | Time Bomb