A fun, dumb, and instantly memorable debut, “Mary Ann Leaves the Band” is a feel-good pop/rock singalong – and the perfect introduction to Brooklyn’s Wifey, a power-pop band setting out to write the catchiest songs ever written.
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“Mary Ann Leaves the Band” – Wifey
Yes, we have ‘depth’ and we go to therapy, and all those things you’re supposed to talk about in interviews these days, but to get started, we just want to win you over with a shamelessly dumb pop tune.
To Wifey’s credit, indie music has gotten pretty deep over the past two decades!
I can’t remember the last time I didn’t use a world like “vulnerable” or “intimate” when describing a song, and to be fair, that’s okay: I love emotional, cerebral, hard-hitting, and deep-diving music like that, where you can get under the artist’s skin and take a peak at their raw humanity.
There’s also a time and place for lighter-hearted songs about friends’ moms, “things” big and small, being one’s own worst enemy, etcetera, etcetera. If you’re reading this, there’s a fair chance that songs like these defined your youth; you didn’t necessarily know what the lyrics meant at the time (or if those words were even supposed to go together in the English language), and quite frankly, you didn’t care! The music wasn’t just good; it was great! So what if the song was silly or the premise was dumb? It made you feel alive, and that’s all that mattered.
Enter Brooklyn’s Wifey, a power-pop band that checks all the above boxes. They’re here to have a good time and they’ve got some great music to share with the world – starting with an irresistibly catchy tune about a girl who, through no fault of her own, breaks up a band. A fun, dumb, and instantly memorable debut, “Mary Ann Leaves the Band” is a feel-good pop/rock singalong.
Prepare to be won over in under three minutes.
It’s mostly men in the marching band
And not one girl’s half as cute
As Mary Ann at her music stand
My God, that girl knew how to handle a flute
Told her my name at the football game
And once again when we played the state fair
But ever since she met Johnny K
Well her priorities have been elsewhere
Mary Ann finds herself a man
and then the band starts falling apart
Mary Ann finds herself a man
and then the band starts falling apart
Independently released February 29, 2024, “Mary Ann Leaves the Band” is instantly reminiscent of noughties pop-punk bands like blink-182, Fountains of Wayne, and Bowling for Soup. It’s the kind of song you’d hear played at an “emo night” dance party, where everyone’s dressed in black, dancing ’til down, and they know all the words to every song.
And yet, Wifey’s sheer energy and infectious enthusiasm beat out whatever nostalgia their music might initially induce. Unlike “All the Small Things,” their first song isn’t 25 years old; it’s not even two months old, and it feels just as fresh. Formed by self-proclaimed “hot dorks” / married couple Teddy Grey and Carly Kerr, together with lead guitarist Mickey Blurr and drummer Chris Canieso, the Brooklyn band formed over a mutual love of bubblegrunge, emo, and DIY – as well as big melodies and catchy hooks. Their forthcoming debut EP Just a Tease (alternate title: “Future Classics”) is set to release later this year, and was mixed and mastered by Billy Mannino (oso oso, Ben Quad, saturdays at your place).
And while they assure us there are “deeper” songs to come, it was important to everyone involved that Wifey’s first introduction to the world be unfiltered fun – and that’s exactly what “Mary Ann Leaves the Band” is: A heavy-hitting, smile-inducing pop/rock jam recounting the “sordid, awkward days spent in high school marching band.”
Now here she is, skipping practices
The kids in woodwind are all licking their wounds
I sit alone with my saxophone
But Mr S won’t let me play the blues
The music school don’t feel as cool
The other girls are relieved
But since you quit, we play like shit
I’m jumping ship for the chess team
“Modern rock, particularly in the punk and indie sphere, is largely centered around societal issues, mental health awareness, and diaristic confessionals,” Wifey’s Teddy Grey tells Atwood Magazine. “That’s all fine and good, but we must ask: Where did all the dumb pop songs go? Your average karaoke night shows that guilty pleasure classics like ‘All The Small Things’ and ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ haven’t waned in popularity, so why are no modern bands rising to the challenge of writing their successors? Where are the 2024 equivalents to ‘My Own Worst Enemy’? ‘Absolutely (Story Of A Girl)’? ‘Stacy’s Mom’??”
“This is where Wifey comes in,” he smiles. “We aim to fill the void of pleasurably dumb power-pop / pop-punk songs, and first single ‘Mary Ann Leaves the Band’ is merely the first entry in our upcoming series of songs that could’ve slotted in nicely on the American Pie soundtrack. Yes, we have ‘depth’ and we go to therapy, and all those things you’re supposed to talk about in interviews these days, but to get started, we just want to win you over with a shamelessly dumb pop tune. Which is exactly what ‘Mary Ann Leaves the Band’ is.”
Mary Ann finds herself a man
and then the band starts falling apart
Mary Ann finds herself a man
and then the band starts falling apart
When Mary Ann leaves the band
When Mary Ann leaves the band
Wifey’s ultimate goal is to write the catchiest songs ever written.
“As for the inspiration behind ‘Mary Ann Leaves the Band,’ I’m really not sure what ‘inspires’ a person to write a song like this,” Grey adds. “People have asked me why I wrote it, and I have no idea. Divine intervention? Perhaps. But Wifey’s ultimate goal is to write the catchiest songs ever written. So the desire to hear those drives me far more than any personal need to expose my soul through song. We miss big, obvious choruses. We like songs that get lodged in your brain after one listen.”
“For this one in particular, I wrote it in about 20 minutes out of boredom after Carly went to work, and then came to the bar to present her with it. She reacted to it with an equal amount of glee and horror, which is how we knew it had to be the first single.”
“As for Mary Ann, if she remembers me from marching band, I hope she and Johnny K worked things out, and I hope likes the song. Hope she buys a t-shirt while she’s at it.”
Oh Mary Ann, I beg of thee
I’m pining for you as we plod
through Yankee Doodle Dandy
This Becky girl can’t play your parts
as skillfully as you
Her breath control is spotty,
and I heard that she eats glue
Sure Johnny’s got a car,
and his sleeve tattoos are cool
But don’t you think it’s kind of weird
he hangs around the high school?
He’s 32 years old
and he still lives with his mom
Pretty sure it’s illegal for him
to come to the prom
`
Euphoric and rip-roaring through and through, “Mary Ann Leaves the Band” is three minutes of nonstop energetic fun.
Wifey’s goals are lofty, but if their debut single is any indication, they just may become the biggest band of the 2020s.
Because just in the same way that our poor, dear narrator is pining for Mary Ann, we’ve been longing for some unfiltered, unbridled, unapologetic pop/rock bliss; we just didn’t know it! Join us in hopping on the Wifey bandwagon nice and early, and stay tuned for more insatiable, high-energy bangers to come: Wifey’s forthcoming EP may be titled Just a Tease, but it may just be the tease we need this summer!
For now, “Mary Ann Leaves the Band” proves the perfect pump-up song, and a worthwhile addition to any (and all) pop/rock playlists!
Mary Ann finds herself a man
and then the band starts falling apart
Mary Ann finds herself a man
and then the band starts falling apart
When Mary Ann leaves the band
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:: stream/purchase Mary Ann Leaves the Band here ::
:: connect with Wifey here ::
“Mary Ann Leaves the Band” – Wifey
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© Owen Bigler
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