Formed in 2010 as Neighbors, Long Island’s quartet NGHBRS changed their name the following year, and has since then been releasing various EPs, mixtapes, and now a full length album. They’ve garnered media attention for their creative use of social media in their video for ‘Hold Up Girl’ (30k+ views and counting) which shows the band in many ‘viral’ scenarios in an innovative format, and did very well in our Year End Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists, winning the Readers’ Poll in the ALT ROCK/REVIVAL ROCK category. Their sound is a very digestible pop/rock blend, which would explain why they’ve been paired to open for such bands as Third Eye Blind and Matt & Kim.
On their latest effort ‘Twenty One Rooms,’ the bluesy title track (streaming) gives us a glimpse into their potential to really break out and rock a party, whather hosted in a venue or a packed arena, in ways early Pearl Jam and Soundgarden used to do. Ballads like ‘Wake Me In the Morning’ have a sound reminiscent of the English band Elbow. ‘We Were Wolves’ forms another pocket where NGHBRS can really shine, in which Ian Kenny’s vocals are reminiscent of "Danger" Lewis from the Toadies. The track itself could easily be mistaken as a B-Side off of ‘Possum Kingdom.’
On March 4th they’ll be playing at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ. – Joey Fish