Tysk Tysk Task

You might have noticed the drastic difference in sound between the indie folk of Tysk Tysk Task's excellent 2020 album Everybody's Worried About It and the singles they've released this year that are more indie grunge. The Lowell band's latest single, "Ocean Now," seems to be a bridge between the two sounds. The new single starts off more light and dreamlike, with melancholy surf guitar. As beautiful as the song is, there is something quite mournful about it. Sometimes there is beauty in pain, and "Ocean Now" reflects this. With all the intense noise in previous singles "Rosegold" and "Colors," it's easy to forget how captivating frontwoman Samantha Hartsel's vocals can be. With this new single, Hartsel's vocals are right up front and the focus of the song. And then the crushing noise comes in, all while keeping the mournful quality of "Ocean Now" intact. Hartsel's fuzzed out guitars and Danni Gannon's pounding drums act as perfect complements to each other. There even appear to be some sonic call backs to 2020's "Lovers' Covers." This song is an emotional roller coaster of a listen.
You can listen to "Ocean Now" below or here. You're Sorry More is due out September 16 on Cursa Records. For more on Tysk Tysk Task, check out the artist on Facebook and Instagram. - If It's Too Loud

If Tysk Tysk Task’s name sounds like an admonishment, that’s because it kind of is.

Maybe the Lowell band didn’t set out to make their moniker a fitting onomatopoeia, but with their new record Everybody’s Worried About Us, they tsk tsk tsk right in the face of smug condescension anyways.
Gleaned from an old notebook scribble from 2018 when the band formed, the record’s title reflects the patronization of a generation, unpacked through a thorny tangle of art rock.

“At least, from my perspective as a white millennial who went through (/is still going through?) a quarter-life crisis, I am constantly getting condescending check-ins from older family members, older co-workers, older bosses,” frontwoman Samantha Hartsel tells Vanyaland. “Even these nasty articles from rude baby boomers about why we’re eating avocado toast and not buying houses or diamonds… on some level, that has to be coming from a deep-seeded place of concern (if not a place of patronizing, know-it-all spite and envy).” - Vanyaland

Tysk Tysk Task begins “Witchcraft” innocently. Some buzzing guitar, a gentle little melodic line. But over almost five minutes, the Lowell-based band builds the song into a burning tower of rock ’n’ roll. Call it grunge, garage, indie rock, whatever the label, what’s clear is this music is not to be trifled with.

As the new track smolders down, singer/guitarist Samantha Hartsel ends the glorious mess shouting, repeatedly, “I’m not happy and I’m not fine." - The Boston Herald

We are known for trying to dig deep and this time might be the deepest we ever dug, because Tysk Tysk Task is presenting us with some psychedelic riot girl grunge that is as Lo-Fi as rock can get without descending into the muddy banks of the Wishkah.

The trio of Samantha Hartsel on guitar and doing the vocals, Danni Gannon on the drums and Ellis Roundy on the bass contacted us after reading one of our reviews and we got into talking and they mentioned they’d be releasing a record mid-September via Cursa Records and had already a song out (see above) and I gotta admit I loved the rough sound of this so here we are now - they’ll entertain us, for sure. - Veil of Sound

Dorchester based Tysk Tysk Task opened up this night with some acoustic jams and proved to the the perfect opener that bridged any gap between the touring bands. Drummer Kyle Cuneol was unable to make it so Samantha Hartsel did it all solo. I’ll admit that when I saw that the first band was a solo act with an acoustic guitar, I was thinking hard about what I was going to write about because I’ll admit my ignorance of folk music. However, I was immediately all in as Tysk Tysk Task was playing striped down rock n’ roll that felt more like more raw and female fronted version Nirvana Unplugged. Samantha is a performer who brought fantastic energy to the stage without it ever feeling forced or contrived. She just owned the spotlight naturally. With a great sense of dynamics, she has the chops to nail the softer parts and the intestinal fortitude to give it 110% on the howls. She immediately set the tone that good things were happening. - Boston Hassle

What are people gonna see when they go to one of your shows? What are you hoping to leave them with?
A maelstrom of femme fury and power, powered by feminist anger. Two women pouring their hearts out on drums and guitar, backed by their friends on deep, dance along bass and crystal gem-like mystical harmonica, that acts like a synth when it’s played by a tall man with a pedalboard approximately five feet long so it can transform with the smash of a foot from violins to trumpets and whispers. - Boston Band Crush