This week's recommendation is "Too Late" by The Happy Fits. The song comes from The Happy Fits' 2016 EP, Awfully Apeelin' which features a banana and is a wonderful pun, which may have played a factor in being the choice recommendation for this week.
The Happy Fits is a New Jersey-based Indie band that originally started in 2014 when vocalist and national fencing champion Ross Monteith invited cellist Calvin Longman to play for a charity event for Relay for Life after an initial performer dropped out. Later, since they were inspired by percussion-heavy bands, like The Killers, they invited drummer Luke Davis to the duo.
The group has stated that they aspire to create "high-energy music" which they definitely accomplish with "Too Late," a song inspired by Longman's crush on a girl he met at a chamber music seminar who was already in a relationship. The song encompasses the feeling of finding the perfect somebody 'too late' while also reflecting on a loss of innocence in adulthood paralleled with the first time of dealing with adult stressors like "foreign stock exchanges." I like to think of the song as a musically-inclined mouthful - in a good way. Every word and phrase fits perfectly into the rhythm and melody, and it seems like every seemingly random reference is carefully plucked out of the minds of songwriters Longman and Monteith. The song is full of fun lines like "keep your beat but don't kill the drummer" and "Winter's gone and so has your reason." Not knowing the intricate lyrics does indeed make it harder to shout sing along to in the car and may lead you to missing a crucial turn while shouting out the one part you know about it being "Too late," but hey, that's part of the fun.
The Happy Fits is the epitome of your underdog story. I mean, how often do you get an Indie rock band where one of the main members is a cellist? I'm sure Calvin Longman is inspiring a whole new generation of kids forced to play what I used to call 'that big violin' by their parents. After releasing Awfully Apeelin' with a cover that Longman made on MS Paint, they didn't get many streams other than from their family members and friends.
However, manager and music writer, Tyler Miranda, discovered the Happy Fits when he accidentally typed in "Happy Fits" instead of "Happy Hits." (Remind me to name my first book 'Harry Otter') He found their EP and thought the cover photo was ridiculous, so he started listening to their songs as a joke. Surprise surprise, he liked what he heard and he made some calls to get the band onto Spotify's 'Fresh Finds' playlist. Immediately, The Happy Fits' listens skyrocketed from a humble 1,000 to 39,000.
With their newfound fame, the band members dropped out of college and started going on tour. However, this team of would-be Class of 2020 graduates never let the fame go to their heads. They still play shows for charity and use their talents for good. In fact, one of their first gigs was a charity event for a local homeless shelter, called The Family Promise of Hunterdon County, and they got 200 people to come out and support this good cause. And even with their fame increasing through Spotify streams during the time of the pandemic, they still try to answer fan emails and DMs as much as they can. Plus, in lieu of tours, they continue to do live streams for hundreds of people.
Since their MS Paint album, they have updated their look so that managers and bookers take them seriously:
However, they have made sure to keep their fruit theme, always featuring different produce on their album covers, including their 2018 album release, Concentrate:
Fans on their Discord server are always guessing what the next fruit will be. May I suggest "Berry The Hatchet" with a strawberry or "Grapeful"?
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