How Long? Not Long Before The Bankes Brothers Deliver on Upcoming EP

There is a beautiful doggo in this video. This song has a descending progression, so of course I like it. There’s something catchy about the lofi way it was recorded that wins the heart on first listen and the slow motion party video with the naked guy playing guitar in the kitchens just seems to be the perfect visual counterpoint for the song.

The Bankes Brothers have released their new track, ‘How Long’ with accompanying music video from via Blue Heron Music. ‘How Long’ is the fourth single off the quartet’s upcoming debut EP In Waves, set to be released 1st March 2024.

Delivering a unique concoction of Lumineers-esque grit, the free-wheeling energy of late-00s indie rock, and the powerhouse belting of blues-rock contemporaries, ‘How Long’ is a country-pop ditty sure to get heads bopping. The accompanying music video takes the viewer on a journey through your average Instagram house party, where it appears Nelson Bankes (vocals) is drowning his sorrows. The loverboy lyrics juxtapose the country-pop instrumental, embodying the youthful high of a late-night romance and the blissful stagger home the next morning. The honest simplicity of Bankes’ lyrics leaves space for the energetic melodies to pick the listener up and sweep them away, again and again and again. Guitarist Morgan Bankes said of the track: “‘How Long’ touches quite a bit on jealousy and obsession. Written at a time when there wasn’t much else to lean on, I think lots of people weren’t totally in their right minds.”

With the release of their forthcoming In Waves EP, The Bankes Brothers are on a quest to light up the indie-rock scene and ignite audiences everywhere. The Victoria, BC four-piece – brothers Nelson and Morgan Bankes on vocals and guitar (respectively), lead guitarist Carson Cleaver, and drummer Gray Oxley – formed in a pool hall one Friday night in 2017; within a week they played their first gig, leaving the former high school classmates overwhelmed by their undeniable musical chemistry. Fast-forward three days and an early rendition of EP closer ‘See Me Run’ had already begun taking shape.

As the Bankes Brothers continued to hone their own sound, playing every gig available, the pandemic halted all progress, leaving the quartet to pick things up when the world reopened with a refined sense of direction and purpose. The result, debut EP In Waves – a six-track shot of dopamine spilling over with irresistibly catchy melodies, exhilarating vocals, and joyous indie-rock instrumentation. This culmination of the band’s wide-ranging influences (from Elvis to The Strokes, Paul Simon to The Pixies) comes together in a way that defies sonic parallels, yet remains welcomingly familiar.