- Label: 'Magic Door Record Label'
- Genre: 'Rock'
- Release Date: 'October 13, 2026'
Our Rating:
Raised On Candy's "Red M&M" opens with a guitar that sounds almost scraped bare. Its thin, wavering notes hover somewhere between friction and melody until distortion arrives and gives them a heavier, more brutal character. The sound grows increasingly ragged, yet there's something strangely absorbing about the transformation. New Jersey duo Joe Penna and Scotty Imp have a particular talent for making musical discomfort fascinating, allowing the guitar's damaged textures to develop a peculiar attraction of their own.
Penna's comparatively restrained vocals are an interesting choice against such unruly instrumentation. He allows the guitar to occupy the more aggressive space, giving his delivery a peculiar composure amid the surrounding noise. Penna describes the song as a story of someone using fear disguised as seduction to take what belongs to another, until the balance eventually turns. There's something fitting about that deception in the music itself, where an initially hostile sound gradually becomes the very thing drawing the listener closer. The attraction remains uneasy, carrying an undercurrent of threat even as the guitar becomes increasingly compelling.
Recorded with producer Ray Ketchem at Magic Door Recording Studio, "Red M&M" is the second single from the duo's forthcoming album, "Play Marbles On The Turnpike." What makes the performance particularly satisfying is how little the musicians attempt to reconcile its contrasting elements. Penna maintains his composure while the guitar becomes increasingly battered, allowing both qualities to retain their character. There's a real pleasure in hearing a band give such an abrasive sound the freedom to develop without allowing the entire arrangement to collapse into aggression. Raised On Candy make excellent use of that tension, finding something surprisingly expressive in the uglier possibilities of electric guitar.
"Play Marbles On The Turnpike" arrives November 13 via Magic Door Record Label.
