Neutrals

Oakland, California-based band Neutrals make tightly wound D.I.Y. punk with jangly pop songwriting at its core. They pull from several generations of obscure, guitar-based upstarts, painting narrative scenes and modernized social critiques on instrumentals that would fit well on C-86 playlists or compilations of early Rough Trade artists. After a series of demos and 7"s, Neutrals presented a sharp, snappy version of their sound on their second album, 2024's Slumberland offering New Town Dream. Neutrals was first made up of guitarist/vocalist Allan McNaughton (who was first active in the 1990s in Glaswegian outfit Snugglepuss, then played in the bands Airfix Kits and Giant Haystacks upon relocating to the Bay Area in the 2000s), drummer Phil Lantz, and bassist Phil Benson. In 2016 and 2017, the trio self-released two demo tapes that captured their raw, self-recorded post-punk sound and drew comparisons to the Television Personalities, the Shop Assistants, and other scratchy but catchy post-punk reference points. The group's debut album, Kebab Disco, arrived in 2019 on the Emotional Response label, and they went deeper into post-punk and mod-pop styles on two 7" EPs, Rent/Your House and Personal Computing, both released in 2020. Neutrals released four more songs on the ever-so-slightly Oi!-influenced 2022 EP Bus Stop Nights before Benson stepped away from the band and new bassist/vocalist Lauren Matsui joined the group. This new lineup of Neutrals was in full force on 2024's New Town Dream, the group's sophomore full-length, released on Slumberland Records. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi