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May 01, 2025 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Isabella Bustanoby

Indie singer/songwriter Grant Pavol first got his start in the Philadelphia underground, playing bass on tour with Shamir and releasing a handful of albums and EPs on Shamir’s label, Accidental Popstar Records. He debuted in 2019 with his EP, Okay, and followed in 2020 with his first LP, About a Year, and 2021’s Reflections, all of which found him evoking dreamy styles of hypnagogic pop and folk. After that initial run of releases, Pavol found himself in a transitional moment, during which he graduated from college, relocated to NYC, and took a three-year hiatus from releasing new music.

Pavol returned earlier this year with his College EP, the first of a planned series of four EPs to be released throughout 2025. Each EP explores a new stylistic rabbit hole, with College diving into cosmic alt country balladry. His next EP, Left That Party, throws back to the music that defined Pavol’s middle and high school years, playing with a fuzzy and lo-fi style of power pop and alt rock inspired by Guided By Voices, Weezer, and Paramore. The record also features a full coterie of Pavol’s collaborators and fellow indie pop lovers, including Isabella Bustanoby of Sloppy Jane on Bass, and Anya Good of George Clanton and Grumpy on drums.

Fans won’t need to wait long to hear the full EP. It is out everywhere next week on May 9th. Along with the news of the forthcoming record, Pavol is also sharing a new single, “He Ain’t Right,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“He Ain’t Right” is Pavol’s songwriting at its most sweet and jangly, bringing to mind timeless guitar pop touchstones like Big Star and their modern echoes like 2nd Grade. Rather than charging forward, the track ambles breezily along, with twinkling harmonies swirling and sighing alongside Pavol’s boyish falsetto vocals. At the same time, Pavol smears the track with fuzzy, distorted scrawls and wiry instrumental breaks, even as his clean guitar tones chime away just underneath, offering a work of bright contrasts steeped in sticky melodies. Meanwhile, The accompanying music video, directed by Lucy Soutter, is similarly a tribute to Pavol’s boyhood loves. Soutter pulls its visuals from the Ingmar Bergman film, The Seventh Seal, as Pavol plays chess against the viewer, but laces in a video game-esque first-person POV inspired by GTA V and Skyrim.

“This song is a love letter to the kinda power pop/alt rock that I grew up listening to. I remember vividly listening to the Philadelphia alt rock stations with my dad as he drove me to middle school classes - the elation and excitement I got from bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Green Day, and Paramore. Bands like these inspired me to learn guitar in the first place, and set me on the musical path to where I am now. Later when I got a little older and started going to more “hip” shows, I realized it was a bit uncool to openly like bands that mainstream, so I grew to feel a bit embarrassed by these formative influences.

My new EP ‘Left That Party’ represents a full embrace of the kind of music I felt too insecure to openly love when I was younger. The video, made with the director/editor/all around talent Lucy Soutter, furthers these themes by utilizing the first-person pov camera of my favorite video game from middle school: Skyrim. All in all this project was an attempt to just have fun making music; to strip away the pretenses and lofty ambitions I had set for myself over the years, and enjoy the simple pleasures of big distorted guitars and catchy, poppy hooks. Trying to rock out more. It’s nice out; enjoy yourself !!!”

Check out the song and video below. The Left That Party EP is due out everywhere on May 9th.