Mightmare Returns With Guitar-Fueled Banger 'Can't Get What I Want'

Indie-rock group Mightmare releases “Can’t Get What I Want,” the band’s first single since their 2022 Kill Rock Stars debut Cruel Liars. With River Shook’s full-chested, snarling vocals at the helm, “Can’t Get What I Want” is a guitar-fueled banger begging for a break from the norm. 

Bandleader River Shook explains, "‘Can't Get What I Want’ highlights a moment of clarity as our protagonist realizes in real time that demanding better treatment from an abuser is like expecting honey from a hornet's nest."

Mightmare began as the solo project of River Shook, the songwriter, performer and guitarist most known for fronting country-punk band Sarah Shook & the Disarmers.

Their 2022 debut Cruel Liars was written, engineered, produced and performed almost entirely by Shook, but after releasing the record and before hitting the road last fall, they expanded the project with a monster of a band that now includes Blake Tallent (guitar, synth), Ash Lopez (bass) and Ethan Standard (drums). 

Cruel Liars drew acclaim from press including Rolling Stone, New Noise Magazine, No Depression, American Songwriter and more. The New York Times said “Shook dials back the twang and down-home shuffle of Disarmers records while retaining their rough hew and stark, straightforward lyricism,” and BrooklynVegan declared River “embraces brooding rock, synthy bedroom pop, and other indie-centric subgenres, and they pull it off just as masterfully as they do alt-country.” 

Photo Credit: Danny Council