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Jul 10, 2024 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Michelle LoBianco

Brooklyn and Pittsburgh-based indie outfit Colatura debuted with their 2018 EP, Spring Drew Blood, followed by their 2022 full-length album, And Then I Will Be Happy. The record saw the band evoking a gauzy blend of surf rock, dream pop, and shoegaze, leaning into their penchant for fuzzed-out textures and saccharine melodies. The band are back this week with another new track, “Suffer Dude,” the first release from a double single produced by Aron Kobayashi Ritch (Momma, Been Steller, Miss Grit, Girlpuppy, Squirrel Flower). Listen to the track below, premiering with Under the Radar.

“Suffer Dude” is a bright burst of indie pop energy, trading in the band’s sprawling soundscapes for a propulsive and catchy sheen. The track opens with a shimmering synth line and layers of dreamy guitars before launching into a hook-filled chorus, balancing the band’s hazy aesthetics with a dose of summery melodicism. The results feel like a synth-filled reimagining of the band’s surf pop influences. Meanwhile, the band’s lyrics play into their confessional side, exploring the difficulties that come with being vulnerable and the desire to stay within your comfort zone: “I don’t really wanna change / Think I’d rather just be comfy / And disengage / Don’t ask if I’m alright / I’m no good at lying / I’ll tell you I am fine while crying / That I’ve got a place with a view / It’s right on the ocean / With all the suffer dudes.”

Vocalist Jennica Best says of the track, “Embracing vulnerability as an artist, and even just as a person in general, can be daunting and takes a tough skin, because there are always going to be people to criticize you. In many ways, it’s way easier to let the fear take over and just not put yourself out there at all. I actually avoided performing for a long time, even though I knew I loved it, because I was terrified of failing and of hearing people say I wasn’t good enough. We all try so hard to look ‘cool’ and pretend we don’t care about others’ opinions, but the truth is, everyone does. But it’s also a basic human need to be able to be authentically who we are. That’s what ‘Suffer Dude’ is about. It’s about being afraid to be vulnerable and trying to convince yourself that you’re okay with sitting on the sidelines while others take the risks, but knowing that’s a lie.

For the music video, we wanted to lean into the chorus, which is basically trying to convince yourself that your ‘place with a view, right on the ocean’ (away from the limelight with all the other miserable, scared people) is fine and what you want, but knowing that it’s actually a thinly veiled lie that is very easy to poke holes in. I’m singing about being at the ocean, but I’m really just on a river in an industrial part of a landlocked city (Pittsburgh), which is basically to say I’m full of shit.”

Check out the song early below. You can also catch the band live at Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party on July 21st.