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Nov 30, 2023 By Caleb Campbell

Early last year, Nashville-based musician and woodworker Jess Awh shared her sophomore album under the moniker Bats, Blue Cabinet. Following that record’s release, she spent last summer in her home recording her next album, Good Game Baby. The record acts as a compilation of diaristic narratives and gentle reflections, ranging from a bad car accident to watching helplessly as gentrification swallows Awh’s hometown, all set against meditative indie rock arrangements. Today, accompanying the news of the album, Awh is also sharing its lead single, “Going For Oysters,” premiering with Under the Radar.

With “Going For Oysters,” Awh departs somewhat from the sun-dappled alt country of her previous record and instead leans into a more layered indie rock sound, echoing bands like Palehound, Ratboys, or Wednesday. The track ambles along at a gentle pace, colored by weeping pedal steel, glassy four-part harmonies, and guitars saturated in burnt, distorted textures. Yet, despite the winding tempo, Awh and her band crackle with energy, building up to a searing and noisy finish drenched in feedback.

Meanwhile, Awh’s lyrics paint a bleary picture of a misspent youth with small details coming into focus under a rueful eye: “Do the old things fade away /Summer camp and learning how to skate / You tell me to let it go / Parliaments tucked into your winter coat / We go down to the fun part of town / Where you treat me to things I can’t afford / You’re a loser and I’m a pariah / But I never liked to keep score.”

As Awh explains, “Going For Oysters” is a reflection on who I was, am, and probably always will be: a reckless person who runs headlong into dark places, asks difficult questions, and stares death in the face. That attitude can get you into some bad situations when you’re a young woman navigating adulthood in a city far from home. Back then I used to hang out with people way older than me, and I used to abuse a lot of substances. I think it was my way of hiding from the raw untarnished ability to be changed and hurt that still lingered in my heart.

Check out the song and video below. Good Game Baby is due out next year.