Self Help//Dish//Aunt Ant

496 Haywood Rd,Asheville 28806

31 August, 2022

Description

Hailing from the mountains of western North Carolina, Self-Help is constantly wandering their own path. When COVID abruptly ended their largest tour to date, the band made the 18-hour trek back home and began working on their sophomore full-length, If I Left The Country… . The band’s latest finds the 4-piece exploring a myriad of sounds from jangle pop to psychedelic jam to indie rock. Started as a solo project of guitarist/vocalist John Stych, Self-Help has grown into a four piece, seeing fellow Appalachian State University students Parkins Davis (drums), David Murray (bass) and Edward Rojas (guitar) join the group in the past couple years. After solidifying their lineup, the band began to tour regionally and around the northeast and American south, while releasing a handful of singles and their 2019 EP No Returns. If I Left The Country… finds the group focusing their multi-genre sound as they figure out what lays ahead for the group post college and post pandemic. Songs like “Whippits” and “Bird of a Feather” showcase the group’s ability to flow between sounds and tempos, blending eclectic, technical instrumentation with floating rhythms. The lyrics on the title track highlight the album's stoned optimism and humor as Stych and his bandmates find their direction in a world as blurry as the band’s sound. A step up from the group’s debut Adult Cartoons, Self-Help’s If I Left The Country… will leave listeners wondering “where will they go next?”