hardly
“Nothing more than a daydream,” lead vocalist Sara Stocking of Hardly, a Chicago indie-pop-punk ensemble said. She’d worked at it for a year before the epiphany came—over a basket of Sexy Fries from Estelle’s on North Avenue (look them up; Sara insists). Sharing the dish with Matt LeGrand and Jeremiah de la Peña, Sara said she wanted to turn her backyard into an outdoor venue.
The daydream soon turned into reality. One month later, Sara, Matt, and Jeremiah played from her makeshift backyard stage. The next time they played, Danny Escobar joined and magic happened.
“It all just…clicked,” Sara says of that moment. And the rest, as she puts it, is history.
Now, Hardly joins Oakley Avenue Records, adding their distinct sound to the Chicago music scene and the label's impressive, ever-growing list of up-and-coming Windy City artists.
Hardly’s originals blend poppy melodies with a harder sound, melding into the indie-pop-punk corner of the musical universe the band occupies.
“Waves” does what its name might imply, lulling the listener into an oceanic trance with nudges from Stocking’s long, drawn-out peals and understated ukulele. The waves soon break, giving way to the storm within: a heavy, guitar- and drum-driven track imbued with equal parts anger and pining. The tempest settles briefly by the end of the track, fading into silence and leaving behind grief it so desperately clung to moments before.
Hardly opens “Steady Buzz” with a punchy guitar riff before adding new layers in a gradual, anthemic crescendo. The verses return to form with the instantly-recognizable guitar part while Stocking builds to another sonic climax in her return to the chorus.
Hardly continues to expand on their distinct genre palette with new covers and original tunes.
Written by Cole Rush