Everybody (who hasn’t been living under a rock) knows bands and musicians like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Madonna… The Big Five, if you will. While all of these musicians have gained the fame they possess for a reason, there are still many underrated musicians that are well worth our attention – and even, on occasion, demand it.
Enter: The Happy Fits – the lesser known indie rock band that you, my friend, are about to fall in love with.
The Happy Fits, created by college students Calvin Langman and Ross Monteith, sprung into existence in Pittstown, New Jersey, 2016. With Langman on lead vocals and cello and Monteith on guitar, The Happy Fits produced its first EP – Awfully Apeelin’ – that historic year. When this humble little barely-an-album climbed to #5 on Spotify US Viral 50, Langman and Monteith knew they had something special, and chose to drop out of college to pursue the band. Bringing aboard Luke Davis on drums, they soon recorded their first full length album, Concentrate. Continuing the fruit theme, the album cover of this particular album featured an amp plugged into an orange.
What Could Be Better (2020) and Under the Shade of Green (2022) also buy into this whimsical ploy, featuring a grapefruit slice taking the place of a record on a record player and a pineapple made of money set aflame, respectively. It’s pretty clear to you at this point that The Happy Fits isn’t your average band. Even with the loss of Ross Monteith and permanent addition of Nico Rose and Raina Mullen (both on guitar), the band has maintained its enthusiasm, silliness, and exceptional talent.
The Happy Fits has a unique sound and impressive lyrics. Atwood Magazine describes their recent song, “Everything You Do” as feeling “like a jolt of joy straight to the heart – like the sonic equivalent of a confetti cannon exploding midair.” Every song is vigorous, fast-paced, and usually has a very upbeat feel. The several guitars, as well as the unique choice of the cello as an accompanying band instrument, contributes to the unreplicatable sound of the band.
The lyrics are also notable. Though the fast-paced feel of the songs might seem as a constrictive factor, this could not be further from the truth for this band. Instead, they use their rapid beat to subtly drive home complicated messages about love, belonging, living up to ideals, and the general joys and hardships of being human.
In “Dirty Imbecile,” for example, The Happy Fits discusses how we as people are constantly trying and failing to live up to each other’s ideals in these lyrics: “All these things I’ve tried, boy, be cute, be dumb, be wise, be young.” They then continue on to a place of empowerment, boldly demanding that others “don’t tell [them] what to fear in the darkness of this atmosphere.” In doing so, they essentially acknowledge the craziness of the world we live in and the need to determine our own self worth, rather than giving that power to others.
With 907,705 monthly listeners on Spotify and more than 300 millions streams across platforms, people are starting to catch on to how incredible this band really is. Be on the lookout for their upcoming album Lovesick, coming out September 19th. If you really become a superfan, you can watch them live, at the Brooklyn Paramount in Brooklyn, NY on December 12th.
If you’re interested in giving the Happy Fits a try, I’d recommend their songs “Dirty Imbecile” from their debut EP Awfully Apeelin’, “Little One” from Under the Shade of Green, and “Achey Bones” from Concentrate. Additionally, those of you who are sick of constantly being told that the best years of your lives occur while in high school might also relate to “Best Tears,” another song from their Concentrate album.
Give The Happy Fits a listen! You won’t regret it. Now, go forth and, as the band themselves would say, “Shoot for the moon, dear!”
