You know that iconic quote from 10 Things I Hate About You that describes Kat Stratford’s music taste as “angry girl music of the indie rock persuasion”? Well, originally I might think of Bikini Kill or Sleater-Kinney, but nowadays I can pick up tinges of that descriptor with moments of The Regrettes’ catalog. There’s a playful edginess to lead vocalist Lydia Night’s vocal inflections that blends perfectly with their catchy riffs. Take a listen to their popular track “Seashore” or “I Dare You” for a prime example.

The LA-based band consists of Night alongside Genessa Gariano, Brooke Dickson, Drew Thomsen, and they just released their third album Further Joy to follow up their 2017 debut Feel Your Feelings Fool! and their sophomore record How Do You Love? Night describes the title of the new album as a concept I think we can all relate to; that constant drive to obtain happiness against moving goalposts. “We’re obsessed with social media, which makes it easy to obsess over self-growth and unhealthy amounts of productivity. That phrase, ‘further joy,’ summarized what it meant to be on the hamster wheel of constantly chasing happiness, but in turn, that’s what makes you unhappy,” she says. The new songs explore the band’s desire to end that toxic cycle.

The record came together after a year in isolation and shut down, when the band members finally got a break from their consistent touring schedule that kept them playing live music essentially nonstop. The band met up in January of 2021 for a writing retreat in Joshua Tree, where they outlined the album and crafted demos while hiking, stargazing, dancing and having deep conversations. After the retreat, they fleshed out the material over Zoom writing sessions and worked with Jacknife Lee and Tim Pagnotta. The break from touring and the time that the bandmates spent together on the retreat really allowed for The Regrettes to connect more and broaden their sonic horizons with the new tunes. The underlying theme on the record of being present and appreciating the moment is a sentiment that has resonated with so many people throughout the pandemic— which acted as a wake up call in a lot of ways. Night says she hopes listeners take this lesson away after listening to Further Joy; “We all deserve happiness and to be present, and we'll never get there if we feel so much shame and guilt for not being there already.”

If you truly want to live in the moment, make sure you catch The Regrettes when they come to Chicago to play The Metro on May 13th and/or when they return for Lollapalooza in the summer!