Scratchy Blanket is a Pittsburgh emo-adjacent band that describes its “kind and polite indie rock” as “the musical equivalent of the phrase ‘If it’s ok with you’.”
The group’s upcoming debut album, Something For Everyone, is due out on Leap Day, which makes its release a true once-in-a-quadrennial event, as the common phrase goes. “On Top,” one of the album’s lead singles, is a propulsive rush of raw feeling that features glittering guitar arpeggios and a fast-twitch boots ‘n’ cats drumbeat. Frontperson Shannon Keating’s plaintive voice, vulnerable but powerfully resolute, soars above the instrumental and then cuts through it like a beam of light refracted through a stained-glass CHVRCH window. Keating’s unguarded performance elevates the song into the emo stratopshere; when they sing “And when you’re down/I’ll be your strength,” it’s no empty platitude–they fucking mean it. Not only is “On Top” an excellent song, but Something For Everyone features a drawing of a cat on its cover, which automatically makes it better than albums that do not have cats on their covers. Stay tuned for an exciting debut.
Check out more from Scratchy Blanket and follow them on the social media apparatus
Bored In Pittsburgh 