Greg Mendez – I Wanna Feel Pretty
Philadelphia singer-songwriter Greg Mendez is back with “I Wanna Feel Pretty”, the lead single from Beauty Land — his first full-length for Dead Oceans, due May 29. It follows his 2023 self-titled record, which was a slow-burn breakthrough after fifteen years of writing and recording in relative obscurity between Philly and New York, and the 2024 EP First Time / Alone. Beauty Land was recorded almost entirely alone, directly to tape, in a makeshift home studio with no natural light.
Two minutes long. He sings casually of getting a new job, getting robbed, getting drunk, and then the logic quietly tips sideways: “I checked into rehab, 7 o’clock / And tried not to be bad / Before I escaped through a hole in my sock / Then half of the place followed me to the rocks.” What catches my ear is how little effort it seems to take — the surrealism doesn’t announce itself, it just arrives mid-verse like it was always there. Pop melodies, guitars that shimmer without showing off, and a voice that Stereogum called “one of the best songwriters to come out of a city teeming with great songwriters”. The full album promises to go deeper into grief, love and addiction, which based on this is worth looking forward to.
Beauty Land is the kind of record that earns a long look, and I put this here because “I Wanna Feel Pretty” is exactly the sort of song that sounds effortless and isn’t.
Tracklist:
- I Wanna Feel Pretty
- Looking Out Your Window
- Mary / Dreaming
- Everybody Wants To Be Your Friend (Except Me)
- Gentle Love
- Frog
- It Breaks My Heart
- Sunsick
- No Evil
- Geranium
- Interlude In D Minor
- Serving Drinks
- So Mean
- Concussion
Tour Dates North America:
- Jun 10 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd #
- Jun 11 – Richmond, VA @ Richmond Music Hall #
- Jun 12 – Asheville, NC @ Static Age #
- Jun 13 – Nashville, TN @ The Blue Room #
- Jun 15 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop #
- Jun 16 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon #
- Jun 17 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry #
- Jun 19 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s Oasis #
- Jun 20 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall #
- Jun 21 – Detroit, MI @ Lager House #
- Jun 23 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Garage #
- Jun 24 – Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall #
- Jun 25 – Portland, ME @ SPACE Gallery #
- Jun 26 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair #
- Jun 27 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom #
- Jun 30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg #
- Jul 01 – Kingston, NY @ Tubby’s #
- Jul 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church #
- Jul 31 – Durham, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room ^
- Aug 01 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5 ^
- Aug 02 – New Orleans, LA @ Siberia ^
- Aug 04 – Austin, TX @ 29th Street Ballroom ^
- Aug 05 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada ^
- Aug 07 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf ^
- Aug 08 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar ^
- Aug 09 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar ^
- Aug 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sid the Cat Auditorium ^
- Aug 12 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent ^
- Aug 14 – Portland, OR @ Polaris ^
- Aug 15 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza ^
- Aug 16 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret ^
- Aug 18 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club ^
- Aug 19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court ^
- Aug 21 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake ^
- Aug 22 – Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar ^
- Aug 23 – St Louis, MO @ Off Broadway ^
- Aug 24 – Newport, KY @ Southgate House Revival ^
- Aug 25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Bottlerocket ^
# with Scarlet Rae ^ with Maria BC
