Strange Neighbors are really a mess but trying their best in their sweet, sticky and crunchy new single Hate Me Less — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
American Pie. 10 Things I Hate About You. Can’t Hardly Wait. Now-iconic late ’90s and early 2000s coming-of-age comedies like these all came equipped with notable scores from power pop-punk bands that set the scene of teenage angst, love and lust — and became anthems for adolescence.
Harnessing that same spirit and energy — but with more melodic influence — are Brooklyn’s Strange Neighbors and their latest indie-rock / power-pop nugget Hate Me Less. Along with the new track comes the announcement of the band’s sophomore album, People Pleasers Pleasing People, which is due April 18 via Mint 400 Records.
A breakup song sung from the breaker-upper’s perspective, Hate Me Less’s protagonist holds out hope there’s no bad blood, and recognizes their own faults. The ending of the tumultuous relationship is met with more sympathy than bitterness — at least on one end — and is a lesser-heard viewpoint in a breakup song.
Hate Me Less opens with a contemplative mid-tempo riff that acts as a ticking timebomb just waiting to go off. “Parked, lights off in the 7-Eleven lot,” frontwoman Aidan Strange sings to set the scene. The second verse digs a little deeper: “When promises get too big they turn into lies / And you know I’ve never been good at goodbyes / I have regret / I have regret / But I think I’m trying my best / I think I’m trying my best / I hope you hate me less,” she pleads, as the song crescendos into the four-piece ensemble delivering their full arsenal of sound.
“I wrote Hate Me Less from the depths of a haunted nostalgia that has weaved a thread throughout multiple previous failed relationships,” states Strange. “I was reflecting on a recent breakup in which I recognized I was putting off ending it for far too long, worried about hurting the person, but in the end hurting us both worse. In the end, it became a song about memories, regret, feeling messy, and ultimately, one of hope… but from a healthy distance.”
Indeed, if People Pleasers Pleasing People has an overarching theme, it’s “laugh now, cry later.” Lyrically and thematically, the foursome journey through difficult subjects — the desire to numb yourself from the world (or at least the rest of the country) and the pain that comes with it; guilt-stricken breakups; learning to relinquish control; and the times when love just isn’t enough. But it isn’t some pity party, reassures Strange. “These are topics we think about and work through, but life is too short to not have fun — life is too short to not still try and dance,” says Strange. “So we maneuver through the difficult subjects with groove, contagious beats, humor, satire and sometimes a bit of shouting.”
People Pleasers Pleasing People was recorded and produced by Mike Dwyer at The Bunker Recordings in Catskill, N.Y. Strange Neighbors have worked with Dwyer on nearly everything they’ve released. “The songs are much more lushly arranged in the studio than their live versions, so Mike is really great at helping us figure out those extra harmonies and overdubs that bring the songs up another level,” says Strange. “He’s also great at being the adult in the room and telling us ‘no’ when we start to get a little too crazy with overdub ideas.”
Hate Me Less follows their January earworm Influencer; their next single, Without A Head, is due April 3 as the final teaser before the album. Strange Neighbors will unveil the LP at an album release show April 17 at The Sultan Room in Brooklyn, joined by other Mint 400 Records artists.
Founded by lead singer Strange in 2018, the band’s current lineup is a sleek four-piece with traditional rock instrumentation. Aidan channels a pop-punk passion by way of a teenage career in musical theatre. Drummer Beau Valentine contributes a similarly theatrical edge from behind the kit. Bassist Dana Bennewitz brings her jazz background to the band’s intricate underpinnings, and guitarist Zach Schweikert adds a jangly touch with his nearly exclusive use of a 12-string guitar.
The band write songs as a group, with the common goal of a finely crafted earworm. They draws inspiration from a diverse range of artists, and have been described as a mix of My Chemical Romance, The Beatles and IRS-era R.E.M. They self-released their first album How To Human in 2019, followed by a series of singles collected on the Illuminasti (2020) and Party of None (2023) EPs. They released Quiet Beat, a cover of an unreleased Doug Hopkins song, in September 2023.
Check out Hate Me Less above, hear more from Strange Neighbors below, and chat with them over the fence on their website, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
