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Aug 03, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Evan Garcia

Over the past few years, Miami-based indie outfit Mustard Service have crafted a playful and eclectic mix of genres they’ve coined as “zest pop,” incorporating indie rock, surf, slacker rock, funk, jazz, bossa nova, and more. Like Miami itself, the band represents a simmering blend of genres brought together in a summery clash, a sweet and diverse element that runs throughout their forthcoming LP, Variety Pack.

The record is out tomorrow August 4th, and follows their 2017 debut, Zest Pop, their 2020 sophomore album, C’est la Vie, and their 2021 EP, Fiddle Lake. The band has spent the years since their last release writing and recording their follow-up, incorporating new influences and stretching their songwriting in new directions.

As the band describes, “This album is a collection of what we believe to be vastly different genres of music written over the span of the last 3 years, hence the name Variety Pack. It also showcases songwriting by members of the band other than [lead vocalist Marco Rivero], who before this album was the sole songwriter for the band (with the exception of ‘Drugs and Alcohol’ off the EP ‘Fiddle Lake’). ‘Alole,’ ‘Song for Marco,’ and ‘All or Nothing’ were composed mainly if not entirely by Gabriel Marinuchi (Nuchi) and LArkin’s PArkin’ was composed by Leo Cattani with only the lyrics written by Marco. As the band has progressed, each album has been more collaborative than the last and the guys seem to keep moving in a more collaborative direction every year, thus turning in a piece of work with such a ‘Variety Pack’ of sounds.” - Mustard Service

Today, ahead of the album’s release, the band is sharing an early listen to the album’s closing track, “Bupkis,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Bupkis” finds the band slowing down, letting their sweet and melodic side shine through with a nostalgic work of slacker balladry. Fittingly, the track feels like an end-credits song. The band sees each other off with hints of both warm melody and bittersweet melancholy, carrying the track forward on swaying acoustic guitar, yearning piano accents, and a breezy rhythm section. That charming pastoral quality melds with hazy, sun-lit undertones and twangy guitar lines, leaving the band floating off in a blissful reverie as the song winds to an end.

The band says of the track, “‘Bupkis’ is a song about saying goodbye, so this is our way of saying goodbye until the next record. Welcome to this taste test of our Variety Pack, it’s got a lot of different flavors so we hope you find what you need!”

Check out the song below. Variety Pack is out everywhere tomorrow, August 4th via ONErpm.