Single Review: An Old Friend – “Native Garden”

Thanks in part to bullish guitars, cutting lead vocals, and a well-delivered lyrical center, there’s no question as to whether or not An Old Friend is bringing their A-game to the studio in their new single “Native Garden” and its colorful music video; to be frank, they’re sounding as fresh as ever here.

Now years into their career, Long Island, New York’s An Old Friend are arguably delivering some of their tightest content yet in this first glimpse of their latest evolution, and it’s obvious that their dedicated fan base hasn’t started to erode by any means. “Native Garden” is a brutishly physical number that borrows as much from a mainstream metal framework as it does certain cues from the hard alternative rock of yore, and despite its being one of the few rock songs out this summer that doesn’t sport an overtly surreal influence, it’s undisputedly on-point with what I’d expect from this band these days. An Old Friend and the scene that spawned them have never been known for following the rules, and this latest studio cut presents them as the same rebellious New Yorkers that won our hearts years ago. 

There’s more of a virtuosic bend to the fretwork in “Native Garden” than I was initially anticipating I’d hear, but it’s a welcome addition to this track just the same. In an age when guitar worship has transformed into something wholly synthetic and anti-blue collar in nature, you can tell that An Old Friend is still putting a lot of stock in recording with organic components whilst steering clear of predictably throwback aesthetics in their songwriting. I like the seamlessness of the master mix here; it both adds to the harmony and reinforces the unassuming emotionality in the lyrics, particularly as they’re presented to us in the video for “Native Garden.” The lead vocal holds everything together brilliantly but never sounds overbearing on the instrumental end of the track, and considering the multilayered style of producing that was employed for this piece, the general sense of refinement in the quality of the music is something worth writing home about. 

If this is just a sample of what the rest of this band’s discography is soon going to sound and feel like, I think we can rest assured that it’s going to be one of the hotter rock releases to hit record store shelves this coming September. This has been a very intriguing and unrefined time for the rock n’ roll underground as a whole, and although mainstream pop output has been just as unpredictable as anything else has in recent times, this is one band that can be relied on for some decent riffing and solid lyrical commentary when we need it more than ever. An Old Friend sounds like the perennial example of what their scene is capable of producing when the right musicians are put in charge of it, and I find their continued success at home to be ample proof of their credibility as musicians. 

Ruby Jensen