The goal of our
"5 Favorite Things" feature, if you recall, is to check in with bands as they make their way to New York to find out what five odds and ends have been helping them cope with life on the road. Today, though, we make an exception for rising locals
Nude Beach, who may not be roughing it in a van this very second, but whose album,
II, is seeing widespread release today via
Other Music Recording Co. Keyboard-and-irony free, and nodding to Tom Petty as much as we've hoped a band in the last five years would, it makes them well worth bending the rules for. SPIN is
streaming the album in its entirety—a listen comes very much recommended, as is catching the trio at
Union Pool on Thursday (and then again at
Death by Audio on August 29) before they head out on tour and properly rough it on the road this fall.
