The Happy Problem

Time Out New York calls the happy problem "a happy-go-lucky Hole." Born from the fighting energy of punk and the love of tuneful pop, and citing influences from Duran Duran to Gogol Bordello, the NYC indiepunk band have just released their first full-length album, Head Case, with 11 melodic punk tunes, including the first single, "Matador," written with impatience about the drunk hipsters crowding the F train on the Lower East Side. The songs have earned placements on ABC, CW, MTV and more and enthusiastic response from bloggers and podcasters alike, (including UK's DarkCompass.com) as well as airplay on tastemaker stations across the US including KROQ in Los Angeles. The band was founded in LA by former folkie Samantha 'Sam' Shaber who, after releasing albums and touring the US and UK for several years on her own, got bored with the coffeehouse bean grinders and earnest soul-searching, and wanted to create something more spontaneous, less precious and, well, louder. Shaber approached songwriting from an indiepunk platform and recruited players from Gnarls Barkley and The Fray to record the eponymous debut EP, quickly landing song placements in film and TV, before packing up and moving home to NYC to find Bronx drummer/guitarist Tony Cortes. Shaber's booming, raspy voice can also be heard in the upcoming Weinstein release, BUTTER, starring Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Garner, on the song "Harder Deeper Faster" which she cowrote with dance-rock collective The Bashful. This is indiepunk for a new generation. Head Case available digitally and physically at iTunes and CDBaby.com. Band contact: [email protected] Secret Fire Management: [email protected] PR: [email protected] Licensing: Michelle Bayer, Shelly Bay Music, (201) 227-6126, [email protected] Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.