It seems like Los Angeles-based, Hot Springs-bred singer-songwriter Harry Glaeser — who makes music under the name Banzai Florist — is always reinventing himself. For instance, we described “David Burn,” one of his latest singles, as bordering on sinister. The new tune he dropped on Friday, “punish,” couldn’t be further from that diagnosis.
Sure, the darkness of “David Burn” makes it more of an outlier in the larger Banzai Florist universe, but even when compared to Glaeser’s typically-breezier material, “punish” still stands out as perhaps the most earnest song he’s ever put out. Melancholic and meditative, “punish” sees Glaeser simplifying his melodies, taming his tendency to get quirky, and channeling the moody, percussive strums of artists like Hovvdy and Runnner. There are even a few moments I’d call joyful, namely when the guitar crunch and low synth bursts in at 1:25 and turns this drony ballad into a low-key anthem. Listen below:
For Banzai Florist bonafides, Glaeser recently released a vinyl compilation of a good chunk of his discography. Side A features “SCRATCH THAT” — a set of 10 demos Glaeser shared last summer — in its entirety while side B is a collection of various Banzai tracks from over the years, including “Love Me Back, Clairo,” which showed up in season 3 of Hulu’s “Shrill” back in 2021.