French Cassettes Release New Single 'Megabus'; New Album 'Benzene' Out June 7

San Francisco indie rock trio French Cassettes have released their latest single, “Megabus”, with a video from Vanessa Pla.

The track is featured on the band’s upcoming third album, Benzene, due to arrive June 7 via Tender Loving Empire. French Cassettes were announced as part of this year’s Outside Lands festival line up, taking place August 9-11, in Golden Gate Park, along with a run of U.S. dates west of the Mississippi [all dates below].

Discussing “Megabus”, guitarist/vocalist Lorenzo Scott Huerta noted, "I have nothing against songs about buses, I just never thought I'd write one. I spiked a drink on a Megabus to Sacramento and the combination of cocktail and staring out the window for 2 hours wound up being this song. I think I admit a little more guilt lyrically in every song we write. I don't normally feel comfortable writing country songs, but I imagined Dolly next to me singing harmonies the whole time and that was truthfully the only way I could finish this one.”

Benzene was recorded at guitarist Mackenzie Bunch‘s studio in Oakland, and mixed by Nick Krill (War On Drugs, Generationals). Across its 10 songs, Benzene finds French Cassettes feeling both comfortable and confident allowing them to take more risks with their songwriting and performances. The intricate guitar work on first single, “Medium Horny,” is a holdover from the demo version, and that re-potting gives it a delicate, almost antique feel. “When You Know You Know” allows itself to settle into a comfortable, soulful groove that continues into the even chiller “Megabus” smooth lilting melody and Nashville-tight rhythm section anchored by drummer Rob Mills. Then there are songs that just do a little bit of everything: “White Noise,” a testament to Bunch’s knack for adventurous production. The song finds its warbling, dueling guitars competing with brutally oversaturated drums before exploding into cleaner rock pastures while Huerta sings about the intimate details of a voicemail message he’s grown obsessed with.

The album contains a world of references, quotes and handmade word-puzzles that only Huerta can fully unpack. Some of the band’s influences are apparent: The Magnetic Fields in the tight song construction and humor, The Beach Boys in the harmonies and experimentation. But Huerta’s lyrical aesthetic is his own, and Benzene is packed to the gills with funny, memorable one-liners (“I’m sick of bar banter, but attracted to the neon”) and punctuated by knife twists (“Sometimes you swear you barely know her”). Its themes never veer too far from separation: from partners you still want the best for; from family members who have died; from a person you’re trying hard not to be.

Benzene is the follow up to 2020’s Rolodex, which garnered local praise from the SF Chronicle who said, "the songs on their sophomore album are easily the best expression of their beaming indie-pop yet,” nationally from FLOOD and across the pond via The Line Of Best Fit, who stated, “French Cassettes invite an irresistible, wanderlust - an atmosphere glaringly attributable to the indie quartet’s Bay Area origins; a setting that figures extensively in the genesis and realization of ‘Rolodex’.” While continuing to build momentum on streaming platforms, with now over 30 million plays across all.

Tour Dates:

05/30 – McGill, NV @ Schellraiser Festival

06/12 – Sacramento, CA @ The Starlet Room

06/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Highland Park Ebell

06/14 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah

06/15 – Phoenix, AZ @ There Space Studios

06/19 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk

06/20 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada

06/21 – Wichita, KS @ Elsewhere Festival

06/22 – Oklahoma, OK @ Resonant Head

06/23 – Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar

06/25 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown

06/26 – Denver, CO @ Skylark Lounge

06/28 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The DLC

06/29 – Reno, NV @ Lo Bar

08/09-11 – San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands

Benzene Track List:

01. Fast Held Hand

02. Eyes Glazed Over

03. Medium Horny

04. Baseball Bat

05. White Noise

06. When you know, you know

07. Megabus

08. Normal Day

09. Finally

10. Up2You

Photo credit: Marisa Baza