We all did a lot of things during the pandemic that we likely wouldn’t have done under normal circumstances. Brendan McLaughlin’s lockdown confession involves watching the ’80s teen-angst classics Mystic Pizza and Say Anything in close succession.
“In both movies, I was struck by how real Lili Taylor’s characters felt—they remind me of kids I grew up with,” says McLaughlin, noting that the chord progression and melody for “Lili Taylor” came to him in a dream. “The lyrics were mumbled, but the words ‘Lili Taylor’ came through clearly. When I woke up, I grabbed a guitar.”
There’s some logic to McLaughlin’s fixation on youth culture. A veteran TV writer and producer, his credits include The Daily Show, VH1’s Best Week Ever and MTV’s Nikki & Sara Live, along with projects for PeopleTV and IFC. He first sampled New York’s indie-music scene as a student at NYU with Goodness Gracious, a trio that released albums in 2008 and 2019. Somewhere in there, he teamed with Daily Show writer Matt Koff to create the notably hilarious Twitter parody account Trump Comedy Nerd.
Available May 15, the Chovies’ self-released debut, Chovy Supernovy, draws on the talents of Psychic TV’s Jeff Berner, EZTV’s Shane O’Connell and former Team Spirit drummer Alex Russek, among others. The album was recorded at O’Connell’s basement studio and Studio G, both in Brooklyn.
In the meantime, the Chovies are releasing the “Lili Taylor”/“See Myself Out” double single. “See Myself Out” was the first song written for Chovy Supernovy.
“It started with the two riffs that make up the verses,” says McLaughlin. “I liked them enough to finish the song. Then I liked the song enough to keep writing and finish the album. Sometimes a positive development can give you the juice to keep going—and that’s kind of what the song ended up being about. Musically, I was inspired by my favorite songwriter, Paul Westerberg. The chorus has the ‘One Wink At A Time’ E in it.”
We’re proud to premiere the Chovies “Lili Taylor” and “See Myself Out.”
—Hobart Rowland