Proper.

Brooklyn’s Proper. (formerly known as Great Wight) emerged in 2017 with The Suburbs Have Ruined My Life, an explosive set of emo-punk anthems that chronicled frontman Erik Garlington’s adolescence as a queer black man making his way from the bible belt to New York City. Citing a wide array of influences, including System of a Down, At the Drive-In, Kendrick Lamar, Tiny Moving Parts, Kanye West, and Modern Baseball, Garlington, bassist Natasha Johnson, and drummer Elijah Watson soon became fixtures in the East Coast D.I.Y. punk scene. They inked a deal with U.K. indie Big Scary Monsters ahead of the release of their sophomore effort, 2019′s critically acclaimed I Spent the Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better, which featured the Willow Hawks and Sonder Bombs-assisted hit “Bragging Rights.” Three years later, the band issued the ambitious Bartees Strange-produced Great American Novel. A concept LP about race, sexuality, gender, and systemic oppression, the 15-song set saw the trio add post-hardcore, alternative, indie, and progressive rock elements to their evolving sonic oeuvre. ~ James Christopher Monger