The Masterminds - Don’t Go (Aquamarine)
Add Date: 01/26/2021
Focus Tracks: “Don’t Go”, “Love Squared”
FCC Info: Clean
Formats: NACC Top 200, SubModern, & Triple A
Artist Info: Asbury Park, NJ rock band The Masterminds are excited to share their latest collection, Don’t Go. The title track channels the garage-rock of “Nuggets”-era 1960s bands like Pacific Northwest heroes the Sonics with a dash of punk energy. It features a killer riff, melodic organ fills, and scorching guitar solo. The supremely catchy “Love Squared” pulls from 1950s pop, contrasting a bubblegum melody with singer Tim English’s deep vocals. The EP’s third and final track, “Where Is Laura”, maintains the catchiness of the EP’s other tracks but shifts the energy to create a delicate, melancholic track.
The release of Don’t Go follows a busy year for The Masterminds. The group’s March single “Flashback” received significant radio airplay on radio stations including WTMD in Baltimore, and their June release, “Boomerang”—like “Flashback” before it—was featured on legendary L.A. DJ Rodney Bingenheimer’s show on Little Stephen’s Underground Garage on SiriusXM.
Upon its release in September, The Masterminds’ Beatles-esque “Let Us Be Lovers” was among the thirty most added records nationwide on the NACC’s college radio chart. It was heard on stations throughout the U.S. including WITR in Rochester, NY and KALX in Berkeley, CA.
With features on Last Day Deaf, Indie is Not a Genre, Surviving the Golden Age, and the Keep Walking Blog, among many others, The Masterminds created a buzz in the musical blogosphere during 2020.