I’m really excited to introduce to you guys a band that I truly believe needs to be on your radar, like yesterday.
Brothers Ryan Marshall Lawhon and Taylor Lawhon are Mating Ritual, a Los Angeles-based act that embodies everything we love about bands like Foster the People, The Killers and Two Door Cinema Club to name a few. But what gives Mating Ritual an edge is their sonic ability to marry heavy rock influences with undeniably, infectious POP melodies, birthing a sound I never knew I was looking for.
Not only am I going to try and sell you on some of my favorite Mating Ritual tracks, there’s photos to boot. I was lucky enough to catch the guys live in Los Angeles at The Regent Theater on August 30 after I reached out and was granted a photo pass by the band themselves.
I can’t recall the last time I discovered an act that I was this captivated by, these guys have two albums out and every song on both records is worth several spins.
I have a feeling most POP fans will gravitate towards this first track I’m going to highlight. Echoing the likes of the late 2000’s and early 2010’s indie-POP movement, “I Wear Glasses” is begging for Apple commercial placement.
I don’t know what it is about this next one that gives me pure 90’s nostalgia. It’s not just Lizzy Land’s feature on the cut or the classic Moby vibes, there’s something so special here. I can’t quite place my ear on it but it feels like I’m listening to something very Cranberries/Donna Lewis/Natalie Imbruglia-esque, just wow.
Fun fact: “Cold” was my intro to the band, after obsessing with the song for a week I took the dive into their entire catalog.
This next offering titled “Drunk” is a journey that kicks off with such a beautiful, somber moment before turning the energy way up. Bonus points for those of us that relate to lyrics like “all we really want is to have someone to hold us when we’re drunk”…. shit, they got me!
Okay, here comes their secret weapon. Lifted from their sophomore album of the same name, “Light Myself On Fire” is a fucking tune! Short and sweet yet heavy and bouncy, this track is a flame not meant to be fanned. I dare you not to dance along to this one.
I’d be lying if I said choosing these specific songs to highlight was easy. It was not, there’s so many great songs for you to discover and I’m so very jealous that you get to experience them for the first time, I just hope it’s as good for you as it was for me, ha. In all seriousness, if you’re a fan of quality music, you might want to support Mating Ritual and buy their music HERE and stream on SPOTIFY and APPLE.
