MK Naomi Photo credit: Alex Ilyadis
MK Naomi is a Boston-based emo pop hallucination. Named for the covert CIA bioweapons program that ran from the 1950s-‘70s, the quartet’s effervescent riffs and ’90s-washed hooks glow in the dark. Simply, the band is FFO the Ten Things I Hate About You soundtrack. MK Naomi’s spirited debut EP, Dream Hiss, pierces through the haze of grief like a sharp knife through fog.
Written in the wake of a multi-year stretch marked by loss, unrest, and heartbreak, Dream Hiss lingers in the liminal space between collapse and regeneration, where healing isn’t linear and clarity comes in flickers. The album releases digitally and to tape June 20 via Sweet Cheetah Records.
“Dream Hiss is a collection of songs centered around a theme of vulnerability,” says Andrea Neuenfeldt. “Some of them were written during a raw, isolated time during the height of Covid.
“Prior to that, I had a few years of my life that nearly did me in. I was underemployed and struggling to survive on my own in my early 20s, supporting someone I loved who became sick. I had a nervous breakdown and spent a year living with my friend’s parents in the suburbs, trying to make sense of my life.
“By the time the pandemic came fully into view, I thought I had found some clarity. But it turns out, I still had a lot to process. These songs came from that in-between space—the aftershock, the quiet reckoning, the feeling of trying to move forward while still haunted by what came before.
“The EP title came to our drummer Ally Bull when she was watching one of her cats having a vivid encounter in her sleep, but for me, the title reflects the heavy experiences that seem ‘done’ but linger beyond our conscious reach.”
MK Naomi is the sound of carefully-considered second chances, brought to vivid life and pulled from the corners of a warm sonic cornucopia of ’80s/‘90s American indie rock and the modern emo-influenced DIY scene.
Rising from the ashes of two promising Boston acts cut tragically short before their time– mathy emo-rockers Birdwatching and shreddy Jawbreaker acolytes Elephants – MK Naomi carries on the city’s rich tradition of artistically assertive, women-led rock bands like The Breeders, Throwing Muses, and Salem 66, injected with the sonic sensibility of contemporaries like Remember Sports, Tigers Jaw, and Soccer Mommy.
The band is powered by the twin songwriting attack and throaty push-pull vocal stylings of longtime friends and scene comrades Andrea Neuenfeldt (bass/vocals, and also of Unseemlier) and Lauren Garant (guitar/vocals, also of Daphne Blue Underworld) in service of powerful, moody anthems that are the perfect soundtrack for gloomy dreamers trying to navigate the daily trials of modern life – without or without SSRIs.
The band’s approach to the time-tested and beloved soft verses/LOUD CHORUSES dynamic is anchored by the muscular drumming of Ally Bull (Radio Compass, Green Piece), and steady rhythm guitar stylings of Tom Ciesluk (No Trigger, Save Ends).
Upcoming Live Dates:
Saturday, June 21, 2025, at Moon Base One, Salem, Massachusetts
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at Space Ballroom, Hamden, Connecticut (w/ Colleen Green, Rozwell Kid)
