Sub-Radio, the small Washington D.C. band some might recognize as the ones who created the “Stacy’s Dad” parody of “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne, has released another new song this week! 

In the past several months, they’ve been steadily releasing new songs from their recording session they landed with Neal Avron last May. Neal’s a legend in the alternative scene, producing for big name artists like Fall Out Boy, Linkin Park, and Walk The Moon. The story behind this recording session began last April when the band posted an Instagram Reel explaining the deal they made with their record label — get one million views or 10,000 shares on Instagram to catch Neal Avron’s attention. They absolutely crushed this goal within just a few days – so Avron agreed to a rehearsal! They played him three songs to demonstrate their sound, and one of those three songs is the newest single that was released on April 11th. It’s been polished up and ready for release.

The title is “Sleep on the Beach”, and it’s very fitting for the setting of the song. It’s an upbeat callback to nostalgic summer days; lyrics painting a picture of sand in your shoes and swimming in the riptide. The guitars have that slight reverb effect that echoes classic surf rock. It keeps a steady rhythm, keeping pace as the feeling of the good old days floods back in. Adam Bradley – the singer – uses a thoughtful tone in the verses, seemingly lost in old memories until he brightens up in the chorus to hit those daydreamy high notes. 

Nostalgia is quite a powerful feeling. The longing of wanting to go back and live forever in the carefree days of childhood can get overwhelming. With the stressful current state of the world, more often than not people are finding themselves reminiscing more and more on even the most mundane moments of respite. 

Its momentum slows down in the bridge to reflect on that summertime nostalgia, “they say that we can’t be young forever, but I bet it couldn’t be that hard”. The final chorus slams right back in as more of a call to action this time, “let’s go sleep on the beach, just you and me after the show”. Let’s make the most of today. Take a step back to just breathe for a moment. Fall asleep on the beach.

As the song takes its exit, it fades out with just the music, almost as though the song itself is falling asleep. 

Even if you haven’t grown up anywhere near a body of water, the imagery in the lyrics and the sounds of the instruments place you right at the water’s edge on golden sands in a glowing fond memory. The nostalgia is almost tangible. This is one for everyone’s summer playlists.