The New York-based duo of brothers Daniel & Steve Bateman, Frog appeared on these pages just two weeks ago with the release of the excellent single, Maybelline. The track was lifted from the band’s upcoming fifth album, Grog, which is set for release this Friday via Audio Antihero, and which is being previewed today with a string of individual tracks premiered across a number of independent music sites, including right here as the band share their new track, U Shud Go 2 Me.

Grog’s third track, U Shud Go 2 Me is a song that wears a serious face behind a mask of playfulness. On first listen it feels like a joyous blast, like a lost track by The Beatles re-recorded by The Spinto Band or Strawberry Jam-era Animal Collective. Beneath that outward cheeriness though, there’s something lurking, a sense of loss, and raw unprocessed grieving, “Old Blue eyes on the dial, her clothes in a pile, you smell them and well up with tears”. As the track progresses it only slides darker, as talk of cops on trial and ferous blood stains create an image of chaos, before the mind drifts into disbelief and painful fantasy, “Bus Stops at 9, it just feels like she’s about to walk through the door”.

Slightly weirdly it ends with a refrain of, “Butthole Surfers, was it worth it?” This just adds to the slightly manic quality of the song, which seems to whip by in a blur of clattering guitar chords and moments of swelling, country-licked vocal lines. This already feels like classic Frog, a band always pushing their music forward, never settling on a specific sound or genre, and just concentrating on being unwaveringly excellent at whatever they turn their hand to – now pass the bottle because this particular batch of Grog is well worth toasting.

Grog is out November 17th via Audio Antihero. For more information on Frog visit https://linktr.ee/heyitsfrog