Fresh off an 8 week streak in the top 5 on the World Famous KROQ, Iglu & Hartly’s comeback continues with their next release, ‘Cheetah’, which is out now. Best known for their 2009 hit ‘In This City’ (achieved #5 in the UK) the Los Angeles-based band have now brought their genre bending tactics to this moody but ridiculously fun track. Cheetah is an intense lyrical journey through moody soundscapes juxtaposed with an irrefutably fun and slap-happy chorus.
“Lyrically, Cheetah tells the story of our band, from the dark road that led to our hiatus to our triumphant reunion show in 2019 after 10 years apart”
Independently released and co-produced by Mark Needham (the Killers, Imagine Dragons, Walk the Moon). “Cheetah” interestingly began its life in 2017 during a writing session singer/producer Jarvis Anderson had with the alternative rock group Night Riots.Jarvis recently picked the song back up and began an intense lyrical journey through synth-laden moody soundscapes culminating in an irrefutable fun and slap-happy chorus. The result is equal parts cinematic and “jump up and down glee”. A heroic tale of friends overcoming the shared hardships of the past and rising again to run together once more.
Originally formed in the foothills of Colorado by college friends Jarvis Anderson (lead vocals, production), Sam Martin (vocals, keyboards), and Simon Katz (guitar), the band moved to Los Angeles after dropping out of school. Luis Rosiles flew from Jarvis’ hometown of Chicago to join the band as their drummer, and LA local Michael Bucher joined as bassist.
The band paid its dues in the glitter and grime of seedy Hollywood nightclubs before being adopted by Hermosa Beach, a Los Angeles sea-side community with a strong punk rock heritage, which identified with their synth-heavy, sweaty and wildly packed shows.
The love the band felt from the small beach town served as inspiration for the song “In This City” which became a worldwide hit in 2008. NME called it “an anthem in the making” while naming them one of “Twenty Bands Making America Cool Again.”
In their review of the band’s debut album “& Then Boom’, The Guardian called it “crisp electro-rock with a big hook in every tune…” while Q Magazine wrote, “This kitchen-sink hybrid works remarkably well.”
As the “In This City” single grew massively, the synth-pop group rose up the UK pop charts (#5) and US alternative charts (#35). The band toured the UK, Europe, and North America at a non-stop pace (SPIN included them in their “Best of Bumbershoot Festival 2009” and called their performance “absurdly successful”) which resulted in a strain on the group’s interpersonal relationships and by 2010 the band was dropped by the label, and the members went their separate ways.
Iglu & Hartly lay dormant in an extended hiatus for 10 years, until the summer of 2019 when the band reunited for California’s Hermosa Beach Summer Series festival. The audience response from that show prompted the guys to go back in the studio to record new music which resulted in their comeback single “Cooler.”
Anderson says, “As we closed out our set, and the sun was setting over the water, it just felt like the universe handed us a massive 2nd chance to continue the Iglu & Hartly story”.
