smush wanted “john dearly” to sound like the end scene of a coming-of-age movie, and the self-made video gets there first — shot by the band, no gloss, just the song doing the work.

Singer and bassist Emily Borrowman wrote it about being in your early adulthood and still feeling like a child: same mistakes on repeat, that stagnant feeling you can’t quite name. The track opens lean — bass and guitars that won’t stand still — and the chorus lands the line that sticks: “I can still hear my old self when I laugh / hold for hope another day she is coming back.”

Then it does what the best smush songs do. A hopeful, floaty synth hook breaks through and the whole thing erupts into a wall of sound — colorful, fuzzy guitars piling up into a frenetic swirl of a finale that feels less like a climax and more like a release. Apathetic and energetic at once. That’s the trick of this band: the sound is all forward motion while the lyric stays stuck in place.

It’s the second single from their second LP, i’ll always wish,,, out January 22. Stereogum made it the #4 song of its release week, Consequence took it as a staff pick, and it’s easy to hear why — this is an angsty, fun, undeniable banger that earns every second of its 2:59.

Rating: 4.6/5

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1eyYLI8szo

LISTEN

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3v34PIRb54ovlyHu8y0qhA

Bandcamp: https://smushcore.bandcamp.com