Polo Grounds - "Nassau"

The Polo Grounds was demolished over the course of four months in the mid-1960s. Sitting on the edge of Manhattan on the bank of the Harlem River, the stadium was home to the both the New York baseball and football Giants, the Titans of New York (now the pitiful Jets), and before Shea Stadium opened in 1964, the Mets. Great. Why am I telling you all of this?

Well, the only reason this tidbit of history is at all relevant to this little music blog is because last week, I first discovered a Brooklyn based band called Polo Grounds. I love when bands (especially New York bands) incorporate local sports lore into their music, so Polo Grounds got my attention simply because of their name. They held my interest with their solid tunes, starting with the opening guitar notes of “Nassau,” the first track from their debut EP, Avoider. 

“Nassau” delves into nostalgia, but not in the hazy or longing kind of way. Instead, it’s more of a tormented look into past events with a specific person and how they’ve shaped the present. “Can I heal you of your damages? The shit you blame for me perpetually? I know that it’s fucked, but it’s not over,” they sing in the chorus, and the music definitely matches the vigor of their words. Polo Grounds lays the distortion on thick, but there’s no shortage of tight melodies lurking beneath the fuzz. The quartet sounds like an even scuzzier White Reaper and they have the energy to match.

Stream the song below!

You can stream all of the band’s debut EP, Avoider, on your platform of choice. You can also follow them on Instagram.