Meet… The Happy Fits
Under The Shade Of Green is the third album from power-pop trio The Happy Fits. In 2012, while still in high school, Calvin Langman (cello) and Ross Monteith (guitar) bonded over their love of certain songs so much they started performing as a duo. Was it their unusual cello-guitar attack that had crowds hypnotized? They picked a handful of covers to explore and found their voices naturally blended. Then Langman started to write, and they added drummer Luke Davis for the 2016 Awfully Apeelin’ EP. One song off that EP, “While You Fade Away,” got some notoriety on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds,” enough to make them think this could work on a larger level.
So they all quit college.
Their following multiplied when debut full-length Concentrate landed in 2018, even more so with 2020’s What Could Be Better. The pandemic forced them to turn inward as they filmed their “crazy variety show,” as they call it, complete with puppets. Live streams ensued, more and more folks started watching, and they wound up making a video for every song on the album. This new wrinkle was rather ironic as they wrote the album with playing it live in mind.
Under The Shade Of Green sounds big…massive…the work of more than just a trio. This was done on purpose. “We always strive to sound more than a three-piece,” explains guitarist Monteith. “Our goal was to make this album sound larger than the last.” From the anthemic “Changes” and the swing-happy “Little One” to the jet-propulsion of “Dance Alone” and the subtly psychedelic “Do Your Worst,” Langman says, “if these songs don’t make you feel alive—well, you might just want to check your pulse.”
The Happy Fits are at least one step ahead of any other guitar-cello-drums lineup. A spring tour is in the works.