Small Reactions is an indie pop band based in Atlanta, known and loved throughout the local scene since their beginning in 2011. “City Lights” heard from guitarist and vocalist Scotty Hoffman, who explained the band’s philosophy of honoring pop music while expanding its definition.
Hoffman says, “What we try to do with our songs is push melody, and push the parameters of that song as far as it can go before we’re all like, ‘Is this still a pop song? Is this too noisy? Has this turned into something else?’”
Their new album is called “New Age Soul,” with a title track originally inspired by “Cool Blue Flame,” a recurring DJ show on the West Texas station WFMU, cited by Hoffman.
“For me, it always conjures up all this like desert imagery. He’ll play old, ghostly sounding ’60s garage pop; he’ll play music from around the world; he’ll play old exotica, early electronic music and then girl groups, like stuff like the Paris Sisters, who I love. It’s just the perfect mix of stuff. I think somehow the confluence of all of that comes into a song like ‘New Age Soul.’”
The record is out now on Sofaburn Records. Keep tabs on Small Reactions’ upcoming summer shows via their Instagram, @smallreactions.
