Sammy Brue and his garage punk-esque little barn burner "Teenage Mayhem"

"two sides of the same creative coin"

Teenage Mayhem by 18 year old Utah singer-songwriter, musician, wunderkind Sammy Brue is a garage punk-esque little barn burner with indie pop filters or an indie pop song dressed like a garage punk song, I haven't decided which but in the end it doesn't really matter. What matters is that it is a cool and different that the raucous punk feel rides on a swampy porch blues riff. It is kind of like when Beck twisted up the roots porch blues riff on Loser in 1993 and while Brue is not the first one to do this since (there have been many) his youthful take and his youthful fan base will be appropriately stoked about it. I think co-opting classic riffs and reshaping, re-contextualizing them is smart and it sort of can pay homage and severely throw barbs at the target genre at the same time. Right? I dunno. I just know this track is mosh worthy.

“‘Crash Test Kid’ and ‘Teenage Mayhem’ go together so well because they’re the polar opposite emotion. ‘Crash Test Kid’ is more me pondering over the shit we’re going through in the world and how we deal with it, and ‘Teenage Mayhem’ is my outburst - an attempt to bring the spotlight to the young kids. To say: “Hey, we’re here too and we’re going through all the same negative stuff as everyone else.” Now more than ever. Too much has been the same for so many years and I know a change is coming. I am ready to help lead the charge."  

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Robb Donker Curtius




THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

Today sees the release of two new songs from impossibly talented 18-year old Utah musician Sammy Brue. The rollicking “Teenage Mayhem” and the more plaintive, piano and strings ballad “Crash Test Kid” are two sides of the same creative coin and the first music to be released from the already critically lauded young artist’s sophomore album, Crash Test Kid out on June 12 via New West Records.

Since writing his first song (a fingerpicked, autobiographical tune titled “The Woody Guthrie Song”) at the age of 11, Brue has released three homespun EPs, his New West full-length debut, I Am Nice and a 2018 EP, Down with Desperation. In the process, the Ogden, Utah native has been hailed as an “Americana prodigy” by Rolling Stone, a “wunderkind” by American Songwriter and one of the “teenagers shaping pop” by The New Yorker.  Alongside this, Brue has performed at the Newport Folk Festival and played shows with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Lukas Nelson and Hayes Carll; and toured alongside Justin Townes Earle, who has become a mentor of sorts.

Brue recorded his debut full-length, I Am Nice, in Muscle Shoals with Ben Tanner of Alabama Shakes and John Paul White of The Civil Wars producing. But for his new album he took a different approach, collaborating with Irish producer, singer-songwriter Iain Archer, who has worked with the likes of Jake Bugg and Snow Patrol.  Brue explains, “I was talking to Iain about the unification of people, what brings us all together, and the phrase: the Crash Test Kid, came up. It really stuck out to me. It’s almost like a superhero or something.” Coupled with “Teenage Mayhem” - which features prominently in the forthcoming Parkland documentary “Inside Building 12” -  it’s the perfect introduction to Brue’s prodigious talents.

Says Brue, “‘Crash Test Kid’ and ‘Teenage Mayhem’ go together so well because they’re the polar opposite emotion. ‘Crash Test Kid’ is more me pondering over the shit we’re going through in the world and how we deal with it, and ‘Teenage Mayhem’ is my outburst - an attempt to bring the spotlight to the young kids. To say: “Hey, we’re here too and we’re going through all the same negative stuff as everyone else.” Now more than ever. Too much has been the same for so many years and I know a change is coming. I am ready to help lead the charge."  

Sammy is currently on tour opening for Michael Kiwanuka.