Five-piece indie rock band The Montaines, whose name simply means “the mountains” in French, burst onto the D.C. music scene in May of last year. Anchored by brothers Alec and Jack O’Brien, with Seamus Mulcahy on bass, rhythm guitarist Luke De Cresce, and drummer Charlie Christoffersen, the band has rapidly gained recognition. The future bandmates first connected through the app Bandmix before meeting in person at 7DrumCity, a popular music school and practice space in Truxton Circle. They hit it off immediately and decided to form a band on the spot.

Their chemistry is impressive, given this timeline, and their enthusiasm quickly led them to the recording booth. By late July, just two months after coming together, The Montaines took the stage at Brookland’s The Public Option, and by November, they released their 5-track EP, Normal People.

“Dramamine,” the first single from their upcoming debut album was recorded, mixed, and mastered locally with the assistance of Ben Green (Ivakota Studios) and Adam Stilson (Decade Music Studios) and released in June of this year.

Sonically, the release leans toward a more pop-forward sound, but lyrically, it’s anything but conventional. The song veers from the typical love story arc, instead capturing the emotional whirlwind of infatuation. “Girl, please, you’ve got a grip on my heart that’s pushing me to my knees,” croons vocalist Alec O’Brien. The track hits its stride with a repetitive earworm of a chorus: “You keep spinning as the lights get lower. Can we take it slower?” Do they ever heed the request? The listener may never know, but by the 2-minute mark, you won’t really mind as the metallic tings of the cymbal guide you through an instrumental interlude that gives you time to digest the scene. The rest of the track plays off different production takes of the chorus before reaching a simple yet harmonious conclusion.

Ultimately, “Dramamine” sounds like it could be added to a mid-2000s record label’s promotional compact disc, and no one would be the wiser. It will be interesting to see where their full-length album goes, but with the way The Montaines are progressing, it seems like there’s only one direction: up.

---

Interested in catching The Montaines live? Get tickets to their upcoming show at Death Punch Bar in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, August 22, 2024, from 9:30 to 11 p.m.