Tuff Sunshine - "My Back Catalogue"

Last time we spoke with Johnny Leitera, the songwriter behind New York City’s Tuff Sunshine, he was about to release the band’s second full-length, Dig Deeper Peanut. Back then, Leitera was planning a string of dates in the U.K. (remember gigs?!) and we even talked about how he was already close to completing work on the follow-up to Dig Deeper Peanut (check out Episode 77 of Look At My Records! to hear our interview from two years ago). That record is now on the horizon and Leitera recently shared its excellent first offering, “My Back Catalogue.”

“My Back Catalogue” is a pandemic creation through and through, as it captures the kind of stir-crazy feelings that characterized many of our lives over the course of the last year. Leiteira details his own bout with writer’s block through artful lyrics that describe his struggle to find a songwriting groove during isolation and he gives listeners a glimpse into the setting: “720 sq ft / I tremble when I make the rounds / My guitar has turned to concrete / I swear it weighs one thousand pounds.” But it’s the sonic atmosphere that he creates that really makes his words come to life. To go along with Leitera’s anxious lyrics, the track features a similarly tense beat and a jittery rhythm with guitars and synths that have a cyclical, almost distressing sound to them. They feel urgent and go hand in hand with the closing refrain, where Leitera repeatedly sings “He used to be that way but now his brain has changed.” And yeah, the only way to bust yourself out of a slump is to change things up, which is exactly what Leitera did by listening to his old records intently for inspiration, or as he says in the song, “cuing up [his] back catalogue.” 

Stream the track below!

“My Back Catalogue” will appear on Yesterday Suit, which is out in May via Declared Goods. You can purchase the song via Bandcamp or stream it on your platform of choice. Keep up with the band by following them on Instagram and liking them on Facebook.