We’re all quite well aware that it’s 2020 and that must be the irony of NYC act Dog Trainer – made up of duo Nick Broman and Lucas del Calvo – who share the VHS-shot video for its new single “2019,” a reflective number of 2020 that remains nostalgic for 2019, which “wasn’t so good either.” The band wraps it all around its punchy new wave, pop-like keyboards, drum machine rhythms, and scratchy acoustic guitars. It’s the band’s anthem that many New Yorkers, as well as people around the world, can relate to as melodic lyricism details lock-in situations, yearning for human contact, which leaves everyone melancholic and bitter.

“2019” is off the band’s forthcoming Scrolling to feel better… part one (self-released) which is set to drop next year in March of 2021. The duo creates a sound that’s high fidelity for the lo-fi crowd, embellishing its music with loads of melodies and pop hooks.

Scrolling to feel better… part one was written and recorded during 2020 through the pandemic which saw the duo create the album in quite a unique way. Broman worked from his NYC apartment, beginning each day with Governor Cuomo’s news briefings, and del Calvo in Vermont working from the basement laundry room of his parents Airbnb. The two would send beats back and forth before eventually quarantining together to finish it in 3 months time. The album for Dog Trainer saw it leap beyond its lo-fi origins to deliver some of the most honest writing and refined self-production to date.

“I think one thing we really strived for on this album was to be more honest about ourselves and the way we feel about our lives and music careers,” Broman explains. “Some of that is really positive, like the stability of both of our relationships and appreciating the way every moment has led us to our partners. And some of it is really negative, like dealing with a struggling DIY music career while getting older.”