Born and raised in Brooklyn, Damn the Kid frontwoman Amber Winestock wonderfully articulates something in the new single FNY and its B-side, RaiNY, that I’ve been saying for years, though never so succinctly. And it’s a message that resonates in any hometown on Earth, whether it’s New York City, or Binghamton, or anyplace else in the Empire State or beyond.
There is not a single city or town on this Earth that’s perfect. Not a one. And there’s no such thing as “the greatest city”, because greatness only exists within the eye of the beholder. How you perceive a place boils down to a large number of variables. Financial access, social mobility, support systems, personal views and values, good old fashioned happenstance … it’s nearly impossible for any two people to share the exact same opinions on any given locale. I love Binghamton, fully acknowledging the city’s shortcomings. But I wouldn’t expect everyone to share my same opinion. We’re not all looking at it the same way.
Your hometown is a part of your family. Maybe it’s a fraternal twin, your best friend and closest confidant. Or maybe it’s an intoxicated uncle with some aggressively stated opinions on the government you only see for the holidays. Either way, no two people will share the exact same opinion. You’re observing your hometown (or your drunk uncle) through different variables and circumstances, tempered by threads of personal memories. Whether it’s unwavering love or bitter frustration, no two people will have views that align perfectly.
Amber Winestock’s New York isn’t your New York. She’s experienced the beauty and the horror in her own ways, through her own set of those aforementioned variables. And that’s what FNY captures so perfectly. Good, bad, and ugly, home will always be home.
Fuck New York, I Love New York
Fuck New York, I love New York, Winestock sings in a tone broadly adjacent stylistically to Fiona Apple. And it’s an apt summary of any city you hail from, albeit NYC or Binghamton or someplace else. No town or city in the world is flawless. And that means you can’t approach these places in absolutes, especially when it’s the place you’re from. There’s good stuff and bad stuff wherever you go, and it’s up to us to figure that out and learn to embrace it all, or not.
FNY opens with an atmospheric lap steel piece by Luke Brown that’s jam-packed with gorgeous tone. There’s a certain Mazzy Star vibe to the intro, with Luke’s brother Nate Brown delivering an intricate shuffle beat. Raph Tombasco adds to the song’s vibe with some perfectly understated double bass work.
Layer in Winestock’s top class singing, and you have one of Damn the Kid’s best tracks to date. A title I don’t anticipate FNY will hold for long—this is one of those bands that just consistently gets better and better over time. And as much as I’m loving this track, there’s definitely a yearning to hear their debut LP Ava’s Town, which is slated for a 2024 release. If the album is half as good as this single, we’re in for a real treat.
FNY has a B-side, RaiNY, and it’s experimental in all the right ways
FNY comes with a B-side, too. A track called RaiNY, which comes in at just under two minutes. And as a fan of both Radiohead and the aforementioned Fiona Apple, there’s a lot to love here as well. This track is experimental, creative, and steeped in a particular attitude that resonates through every note.
RaiNY begins to the gentle sounds of rain and rolling thunder, with flirtations of percussion whispering in. And then, halfway into the track, Tombasco is putting down a firm, innovative rhythm using a miscellaneous assortment of found items, including wooden and metal spoons, a beer bottle, and a trash can. Damn the Kid fills out the rest of the space with a dreary (in a good way) chorus of vocals, over which Winestock puts down yet another of her impeccable signature vocal offerings.
RaiNY is another track that harkens the coming storm—pun mildly intended—of this band’s hotly anticipated upcoming LP. Damn the Kid are on a sonic mission to turn genre walls into dust, and in my personal opinion, that fact alone gives Ava’s Town a pretty high anticipatory ranking on the list of Binghamton’s 2024 releases. I really can’t wait to see what Damn the Kid is going to do with this album. In the meantime, be sure to check out FNY and RaiNY today, April 26th!
