I asked All Violet what the name of their band meant,* but they told me they’d have to kill me if they let the information slip. Which I respect. People need to draw lines. They need to know their boundaries. And it isn’t a bad idea to for them to let everyone else know their boundaries to. It’s only fair. And “Plead the Fifth” is a cool song. Kind of lo-fi. You can definitely hear the room, which I like because it tells me the song was made by real human beings. Sure, an AI algorithm could fake a real room, but the room would probably have six fingers or something, and that would just be icky. And there’s nothing icky about this song. It’s kind of laid-back and chill. I promised myself I wouldn’t go back to the old “for fans of” cliche or tell you who it sounds like, but I can’t help myself. I’m hearing the Kinks, okay? Yeah, they mention other artist in their bio — Beach House, Slowdive, and Elliot Smith, to be exact — but I hear the Kinks. Maybe it’s the singer’s voice. His name is Brian Tannenbaum, by the way. And Mikey Sloan is playing slide guitar. That’s it. That’s the whole band. Apparently they recorded the track at a seaside cottage. So the room I mentioned earlier is a room by the sea. A mellow, groovy tune? A room by the sea? David Lynch vibes? Not bad for a buck-fifty or however much they’re charging on Bandcamp these days. Not bad at all. Just don’t ask them what their name means.

*This is 100% true.

All Violet on Bandcamp