A family band like no other, Secret Monkey Weekend returns with sparkling sophomore album Lemon Drop Hammer on June 6. Comprising seasoned guitarist/vocalist Jefferson Hart and his stepdaughters Ella (bass/vocals) and Lila Brown-Hart (drums/vocals), the North Carolina trio’s harmony-heavy Beatles/Squeeze songwriting, charming lyricism, and familial chemistry is channeled into 10 tracks helmed by revered REM/Smithereens producer Don Dixon.
Secret Monkey Weekend’s wildly atypical backstory is testament to the power of music even in the face of heartrending grief. Ella and Lila’s father Matt, a prominent area drummer who’d toured with Hüsker Dü’s Grant Hart, passed suddenly in 2012, when his daughters were aged just 4 and 9. Matt had played in bands with Jefferson and, after his friend’s passing, the latter started teaching Ella guitar. A relationship with their mom, Laura, slowly blossomed.
Secret Monkey Weekend (a name derived from a vintage Tiger Beat magazine headline) began as purely organic family therapy, with no plans for anything more. Yet by 2016, they were playing casual shows and soon graduated to a busy calendar of club and festival dates. Debut album All The Time In The World, also produced by Dixon, followed in 2022. It’s a tale so remarkable that the trio is the subject of Emmy-winning 2023 PBS documentary, Secret Monkey Weekend.
Lemon Drop Hammer (a title inspired by Jefferson witnessing Laura assault a bag of congealed candy with said tool) is a singular combo of deft songcraft, wide-eyed youthful wonder, and music functioning in its highest form – as comfort and connection. Harnessing timeless Beatles/Kinks melodic instincts to fairy-dust power-pop guitar jangle, authentic first-person lyrics, and three contrasting voices that harmonize as only family can, it’s a record at once instantly classic and, with a teen and 22-year-old aboard, innately contemporary.
Released on the band’s own Secret Monkey Records, Lemon Drop Hammer will be accompanied by regional touring and later standalone digital single “Grant Hart,” a fond tribute to their hugely influential late family friend.
Today, Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the video and buoyant album opener “So Much Joy,” a tune that evokes the heyday Yardbirds. With its jangly guitar, group harmonies, bouncy beat, and impressive solo work from Hart, the song brings together a retro 60s rock and roll sound with a catchy punk edge.
Ella describes the inspiration behind the tune:
So Much Joy was a deeply personal song for me. I wrote it late at night. I had been really insecure in my relationships with my friends. I often felt like no one truly wanted to be my friend, and did it out of obligation. But then I had my high school graduation party and it was a wonderful experience. My friends were so eager to support me and have fun, and I truly felt like I belonged. I was so moved by that feeling that I began writing down the words to what became So Much Joy and sent them to Jefferson.
Jefferson adds his own take:
I could easily see that Ella’s words were from the heart and I wanted to try to get the music to echo that, but with some punch and to be heavy guitar but with a hook. I went with A-minor key and a guitar intro riff that felt like the mid 1960s radio hits. I wanted the body of the song and backing vocals to have a Yardbirds vibe, sort of like “Heart Full of Soul” or “For Your Love”, their big hit singles. I think we both accomplished what the song needed.
WATCH:
