Habibi

One Liner: Surf rock girl group with some middle Eastern flourishes

Wikipedia Genre: Psychedelic rock/pop, garage rock, girl group
Home: Brooklyn

Poster Position: 24
Weekend Two Only.  Saturday.

Thoughts:  A childhood friend of my wife married a guy with this last name, so I was super hoping that this was going to be a secret side project that he had put together down in Houston. Then I could make that discovery and break it wide to my wife's family and be hailed as the Secret Musical Side Project Finder Hero they had always wished I'd be.  My hopes have been dashed.  But only for the shortest of seconds, because this is instead a compelling low key rock band made up of four ladies who can jam.  Kinda surf rock, 60's girl group vibes in here, like the Donnas got into drone, or the Go-Gos loved The Strokes.

The top track has a driving beat and DIY sound, but when she sings about the sun going down and her shirt coming off you need to pay attention.  "Siin" is that tune, with 2.1 million streams.

The rhythm section is driving that sucker forward in lockstep - great zone right there.  And the harmonies in the voices are also cool.  Comments turned off on the video for some reason, I wonder if these gals have courted controversy for some reason.  "Come My Habibi" turns from a psych rock girl group tune into a Arabic music party (I'm sure this style of music has a name, but I don't have any clue) for a short while, and then switches back into American rock.  And "Nice" is not in English.

The word Habibi means "my love," in Arabic, which the vocalist apparently used when she was growing up.  Their Wikipedia says that two of them came from Detroit, and two of them came from Brooklyn, and they formed the band in 2011 before coming to Austin for SXSW.  Nothing much else about them other than that the lead vocalist is of Iranian descent, which informs their style.  Also, the lead guitarist is named Lenaya, but goes by Lenny, which is boss.  And an interesting quote from the lead singer: "But at the same time, our music is very American. If you peel back the curtain from all this stuff—like surf music. That’s synonymous with California white boy guitar players. But it was created by Dick Dale, who was a Lebanese immigrant, who used scales and chords borrowed from Middle Eastern music.”  Cool!  I had no idea.

They have two albums - 2014's Habibi and then 2020's Anywhere But Here.  A few other EPs and singles along the way as well.  The most streamed track from that newer album is "Angel Eyes," with 1.4 million streams.

Solid.  Also jammed a version taped when they came to town for Levitation Fest a few years ago.  I'll also throw their most recent single at you as well, this is 2021's "Somewhere They Can't Find Us," a propulsive dance number that feels sunny and ready for a good boogie.  74k streams.

Come on!  Good vibes in that one for sure, absolutely sounds like a hipster Brooklyn band turning up the groove to get some people out on the dance floor.  I'd absolutely check this band out in person, if I am at the Fest on the same day second weekend!