With this year finally coming to a desperately needed end, we have all found our ways to escape the 2020-ness of it all (anyone else travelling back seventy years to befriend Queen Mummy on Netflix’s The Crown perchance?). Rock-duo Amphibians offer another form of artistic escapism with their 80’s style, guitar-heavy, Roxette-esque soundscape in their latest (very relevant) track, “Keep Your Distance”.
The NYC-based songwriting brothers Fred and Bob Garaffa chose their band name from the word “amphibious”, meaning to be able to live on both land and water, or in the band’s case – to live in two different times. “Keep Your Distance” contains a traditional rock band arrangement and draws its inspiration, no doubt, from a “pre heavy production” era. Listening to this feels both totally new and yet also instantly familiar… kind of like wearing a facemask… (…are we subtly reminding you to wear a face mask…you’ll never know…*whispers* but wear a mask…#productplacement).
With guitar riffs that will leave fellow guitar players raising their eyebrows in appreciative admiration, this song is the full experience…playing it once will certainly not be enough.
Best listened to: While cooking something saucy, waving the sauce-spoon around to the beat and redecorating your ceiling (you’re welcome roommates!)
Listen for this moment: 3:46 when all the distinct parts of the song come together like a delicious Amphibian-based soup (never thought you’d see that item on the menu)