What I’ve Been Listening to: The Nude Party/The Nude Party

This has happened to me before and I love it! Until about a week ago, I had never heard of The Nude Party. Then my streaming music provider served up a playlist that included one of the American band’s tunes off their eponymous debut album from July 2018. I immediately dug the ’60s vibe of their sound blending garage and psychedelic rock, The Rolling Stones and Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground. When I checked out the album, I realized the song from that playlist wasn’t a one-off.

The Nude Party were formed in 2012 when freshman students at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. decided to start a band. Their members are Patton Magee (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica), Shaun Couture (guitar, vocals), Don Merrill (piano, vocals), Alexander Castillo (bass, vocals), Austin Brose (percussion, vocals) and Connor Mikita (drums). At the end of their freshman year, they all moved together to a house outside of town and learned how to play their instruments. It almost sounds a bit like a fairytale!

The group quickly gained a following in Boone where they oftentimes performed in the nude at a local party venue. You can’t make this stuff up! They became known as “the naked party band,” which in turn inspired their name The Nude Party. Before moving on to playing other venues in the area, they put on some clothes. After their members had graduated, the band started touring nationally.

In 2014, they met Oakley Munson, the drummer of garage rock band Black Lips. Munson recorded The Nude Party’s debut EP Hot Tub EP, which was released in early 2016. The band continued to build their reputation through heavy touring and supporting higher profile groups like King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Cold War Kids and The Murlocs. By early 2018, they had secured a deal with New West Records and went into the studio to record their eponymous debut album. This finally brings me to some music!

Here’s the opener Water on Mars. Like all other tracks on the album, it’s credited to all members of the group. The song is pretty representative of their cool sound.

Chevrolet Van, which also became the record’s lead single, is the tune that caught my attention and made me listen to the album. Following the brilliant suggestion by Munson, it features Jon “Catfish” DeLorme on pedal steel, who subsequently became a touring member. This sounds like a ’70s country tune by the Stones. Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Tuner and the band’s drummer Matt Helders included the song in their top 5 during a 2018 interview with Matt Wilkinson for Beats 1 Radio, as reported by NME. This further boosted their visibility.

War is Coming has a nice psychedelic flavor. In particular, I dig the keyboard that could be my beloved Vox Continental. I just don’t get tired of that sound!

Live Like Me has more of that seductive keyboard sound and a cool guitar riff. This is quite catchy!

Let’s do one more: Gringo Che. This could be a song by The Animals. It also reminds me a bit of Them. I just love it!

According to Wikipedia, the band’s debut album was well received. Rolling Stone called it “equal parts ‘I’m Waiting for the Man’ Velvet Underground and Exile on Main Street Stones” – clever! American Songwriter opined The Nude Party “blow the roof off but do it with style and class, nodding to the past without slavishly imitating it.”

Like Hot Tub EP, the album was produced by Oakley Munson. The Nude Party have since released their second full-length album Midnight Manor, which appeared in October 2020.

Sources: Wikipedia; NME; YouTube; Spotify