Me Nd Adam - “Heartbeat of My Soul"

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 4

Pairs Well With…Deer Tick, Ween, Bob Schneider

We got Part 2 of Me Nd Adam’s American Drip in 2023, a continuation of the band’s unique stew of alt country, 80s pop, and bouncy indie rock. To take a roots-rock foundation and make it so damn catchy is impressive. Me Nd Adam have melodramatic tendencies and are unashamed to pull from the biggest of pop hooks and apply them to rooted songwriting. It feels borderline sarcastic at times, but if that’s the case, Me Nd Adam are in on the joke. There’s joy on American Drip and the expansiveness of the two-part collection (with Deluxe Editions!) doesn’t feel like more of the same. Genre hopping makes sense for the Austin-based band’s sound, to the point that American Grip doesn’t sound disjointed over its expansive twenty-five-song length. (Kevin McStravick)

2022 Review: Me nd Adam’s recent release, American Drip, Pt. I, is an interesting and diverse collection of songs that explore genres from country-rock to euphoric synth rock to indie folk pop, sometimes within in a single track. The band covers a range of 20-something concerns; romance, partying, mental health, and loneliness, to name a few but they do a nice job of matching instrumentation and production to the emotional content of each song.  While lyrically chill and introspective, the album gets most interesting where their experimental and quirky soundscapes go up tempo and anthemic.