Interview and Photos by Jordan Edwards

New Rules have been called a boy band (mostly by articles like this), but it's not really accurate. Yes, Nathan Lambert, Ryan Meaney and Alec McGarry are young. They have smooth voices that harmonize well together and a loyal fanbase that anticipate each new release.

But their live shows don't include choreography, and they prefer to write with acoustic guitars rather than hunched over a computer. They have more in common with '70s folk rock groups like Crosby, Stills, and Nash and America than they do with NSYNC. The important thing is that they can write a great love song.

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, we met up with the UK-based band to talk about their recent rise and the effect of their viral hit "Pasta."

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Lance Bass at Rocco's in WeHo | California Live | NBCLA

What does every boy band member need after stepping off the stage in front of thousands of hysteric fans?

Food! Through their years touring the world, these musicians have dined at restaurants all over the globe and sampled every cuisine under the sun, and now they're applying their passion for food to business. From New Kids on the Block singer Donnie Wahlberg's Wahlburgers burger chain to BTS' Kim Seokjin's seiromushi spot in South Korea, we took a look at the increasing number of restaurants owned by boy band members around the world.

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New Releases

Half Waif's "In August" Is an Ode to Friendship Breakups

The new single from Nandi Rose deals with guilt from an ending friendship.

Half Waif - "In August" (Lyric Video)

It's been argued time and time again that friendship breakups can sting worse than romantic ones.

Even if neither party is to blame, a fizzled companionship can lend itself to mournful guilt. It's these feelings of remorse that drive "In August," the latest single from Half Waif's Nandi Rose. According to the singer/songwriter, the pensive song "tracks the dissolution of a friendship over the course of a year, throughout every season." As she explains in a statement, "There's a particular kind of sadness to a friendship ending when there's no one to blame, just as there's something mournful about the inevitable change of weather. Sometimes it's not a big fight but a gradual growing apart that marks the end—how do we make sense of our role in that? This song is an attempt to recognize and accept mutual culpability in an effort to move on."

"In August" begins with a funereal piano introduction that soon gives way to Half Waif's unique brand of layered, shadowy synth-pop. Looming and somber, the track finds Rose contemplative on both sides of the friendship's end. "I wonder how you've been / Oh, I have lost your friendship / What does that say about me?" she sings. Later: "You've broken your promise / What does that say about you?"

"In August" is neither self-destructive or accusatory, instead weighing the mutual faults between herself and her subject. "If I can own / Up to what I've done / Then I'll get it together / Will you follow?" go the song's final lines, as the instrumentals fade out as seamlessly as a missed connection.

Listen below.

Half Waif - "In August" (Lyric Video)www.youtube.com

SVRCINA - FLOWERS (Official Video)

Alt-pop singer-songwriter SVRCINA introduces her single, "Flowers," the newest cut from her forthcoming debut full-length album.

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New Releases

Pom Pom Squad Celebrate Love's Gut Punches on "Red With Love"

The Brooklyn rockers seem poised to blow up in the indie world.

Pom Pom Squad - Red With Love (Official Audio)


Pom Pom Squad has everything you could want from a Brooklyn-based indie-punk outlet—wailing guitars, searingly confessional yet simultaneously original lyrics, and music videos loaded with glitter and neon lights.

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New Releases

LVVRS Premiere “Iconic” Music Video

"Light me up / We keep it iconic."

LVVRS - Iconic (Official Music Video)

From the south Louisiana region of Acadiana, the pop-rock outfit LVVRS launch the music video for "Iconic."

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