Exclusive Track Premiere: ‘Outcast,’ Mainland

Brooklyn-based indie rock band Mainland first emerged in 2013 and the four-piece hasn’t slowed down since. Following three EPs and recent shows at New York’s Rockwood Music Hall, The Jewish Museum, and The Chelsea Hotel (a special tribute show for Patti Smith), here we are pleased to premiere the first track, “Outcast,” from their forthcoming debut LP.

“Each lyric references a different person you come across in a lifetime and how they can make you feel disconnected,” vocalist and guitarist Jordan Topf says. “We try to make things open to interpretation, but the lyrics of this song are in many ways autobiographical.”

As Topf sings, “Outcast from my mother / Outcasts to each other / Outcast from the one I love,” Corey Mulle (guitar), Alex Pitta (bass), and Dylan Longstreet (drums) infuse the song with upbeat, catchy hooks, garage-rock guitar riffs, and an underlying, yet driving bass. While it might not be as low-fi as many of the band’s other tracks (see their latest EP Shiner), “Outcast” accurately represents a time in life where one feels lost. Inspired by family members, former bosses, and acquaintances in New York and L.A. who were unaccepting of Mainland, Topf says, “I wanted to write a song that spoke to a subculture where imperfection and lost souls are embraced and made beautiful.”

And when referring to the lyric “Wake up everyday just to waste my paycheck,” the singer continues: “I once bought at toy BB gun—cowboys and Indians style—but the thing doesn’t even fire pellets. I’ve been telling myself I will hang it over the upright piano in my apartment, but we’ve been on the road so much that it just sits next to my plants. It was over priced and silly, but I guess it keeps the ghosts away.”

MAINLAND’S DEBUT LP IS DUE OUT IN EARLY 2016. FOR MORE ON THE BAND, VISIT THE ITS WEBSITE.