Brooklyn-based indie rock band Book/Spirit are distinguishing themselves as some of the city’s most promising talent and electric improvisationalists.
Whether riffing on philosophical theory to create their name, developing the catchy “ear candy” that makes arrangements pop, or experimenting with a panoply of genres to find their sonic style, the band is not afraid to question convention.
Since Book/Spirit’s formation in 2018, the group has built genuine friendships through their collaborative writing style and shared dreampop-punk-krautrock influences. Their most recent addition of Micah Evans as their permanent bassist rounds out the quartet, which includes guitarists/vocalists Pete Ferrari and Mike Susa along with Garrett Troy on drums.
Catastrophizer, the band’s upcoming sophomore album, is set to release on December 1st. Recorded over the course of about eighteen months and finalized in October, the album refines the roots of their debut record — Easements — with notably developed production technique. The exit of a former guitarist midway through the process forced Book/Spirit to rethink the compositional gaps left behind, and grow through rather than around them. It serves as a reflection on the last few years for the band, discussing topics such as mental health and religion in each introspective vignette.
Today, Book/Spirit dropped Catastrophizer’s latest single, a dichotomous Modest Mouse-esque rocker called “Badger.” What started as a simple riff developed by Ferrari soon combined with couplet lines and exploratory jam sessions amongst the band until the heart of it was gradually carved out.
Each of the song’s halves are uniquely distinct. The first features a driving bass and well-panned electric guitars against ever-changing percussive rhythms, but the arrangement feels like it’s holding something back as the culminating tension peeters out into silence.
The second half explodes into a rattling instrumental break, highlighted by the low, droning vocal and rip-roaring guitar solos. Accompanied by a collage-like DIY music video illustrating a desperate search for reprieve, “Badger” acknowledges the spiraling hell of feeling as though efforts to progress are futile and articulates it with eccentric imagination.
Catastrophizer is expected to follow in its latest single’s example come December, offering listeners a chance to escape the noise and lose themselves in indie-rock bliss. Their lead single for the record, “Hammock,” dropped in March. Book/Spirit has two upcoming shows this month in New York and Philly, and will set sail for their European tour in February of 2027.
