For almost 15 years, Ohio native Brian Sulpizio has been making music under the moniker Health&Beauty. He readily admits that some of the first records he made sucked, but the lessons he learned during their production helped turn the band into a formidable force, as demonstrated on the new album No Scare.

By 2012, Healthy&Beauty had a relatively set lineup, with Sulpizio enlisting the help of pianist Ben Boye and drummer Frank Rosaly. The band took many months to workshop the songs that would end up on No Scare before heading into the studio with Theo Karon, and while they don’t like to consider themselves a “jam band,” they like to experiment with the idea of what it means to “have a song,” welcoming the opportunity to meaningfully shift song arrangements in order for them to flourish. The result is No Scare, a quick collection of seven songs that definitely didn’t come together quickly. Of writing the record, Sulpizio says:

Seems like a really long time ago now. And it was. Some of these songs had been recorded very quietly a year before, back when I was living in Jeff’s basement and stealing all his liquor, broke as a joke, mad at everyone. That’s the year I started Swamp Day, a thriving international holiday, celebrated annually on the day of the most recent US presidential election, built around this great line from the poem “Regional Holiday” by Tristan DeWitt: “This, ladies and gentlemen, is Swamp Day. Today, there are no questions, just Answers and red wine.” Ben & Frank got back to town and we hit it hard, really put some effort into it, did the best we could. Idk what else to say. There are a lot of records out there. This is one of em.

Stream No Scare in full below.

Health&Beauty tour dates:

08/09 Chicago, IL @ Constellation (w/ Sarah Neufeld & Colin Stetson)
08/10 Lafayette, IN @ The Spot
08/21 Cleveland, OH @ Maple Lanes

No Scare is out 8/5 on Wichita Recordings. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Julia Dratel