Myra Lee Photo credit: Laila Holmes
Brooklyn alt-rock trio Myra Lee continue carving out their place in the city’s indie underground with the release of “Corkscrew Drawers,” the latest single from their forthcoming debut album Capture The Flag, due out June 26th. Formerly known as Dino Expedition, the band takes its current name from a 1996 Myra Lee release by Cat Power — an apt reference point for a group equally invested in vulnerability, atmosphere, and emotional weight.
Made up of vocalist and guitarist Tahlia Amanson, bassist Aiden Velazquez, and drummer McCabe Teems, Myra Lee pull heavily from the lineage of ’90s indie rock, channeling the restless intimacy of Yo La Tengo, the loose-edged cool of Pavement, and the dissonant textures of Sonic Youth and Electrelane. Across their first two singles, “Magpie” and “Dean,” the trio established a sound that feels understated yet emotionally crushing, pairing hushed instrumentation with deeply personal songwriting.
“Corkscrew Drawers” pushes that emotional honesty even further. Built around haunting strings, dense guitar layers, and Amanson’s quietly devastating vocal delivery, the song reflects on alcoholism and the strain it placed on her relationship with her mother. The track’s title comes from a vivid image Amanson carried throughout childhood.
“My mother always saved all the corks from her wine bottles, packing them away in a kitchen drawer, proposing one day to use them for an ‘art project,’” Amanson explains. “It always felt like a constant reminder of the disease that surrounds alcoholism, lingering throughout the many houses we lived in. This song was written at an extremely low point in my relationship with my mother.”
That same emotional directness defines much of Capture The Flag, a debut that refuses to soften its edges. The album grapples openly with alcoholism, sexuality, and grief, while maintaining a warmth and intimacy that keeps the material from collapsing under its own heaviness.
The record itself was captured quickly and instinctively over two days in a Lower East Side basement studio, where the band live-tracked six songs with engineer Jeremy Harris (Devendra Banhart, Hand Habits, Allegra Krieger). The sessions were later mixed and mastered in Memphis by producer Calvin Lauber (Boygenius, Julien Baker).
The result is a debut that feels raw without losing its sense of precision — intimate, bruised, and deeply human. With Capture The Flag, Myra Lee emerge as a band unafraid to confront uncomfortable truths head-on, transforming deeply personal experiences into songs that linger long after the final note fades.
“Corkscrew Drawers” arrives June 5th, ahead of Capture The Flag on June 26th via all DSPs.
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