Premiere: Girls on Grass reflect on deep personal truths with new song, ‘Spill Your Guts’

Coming out can be as transformational as it is lonely. It’s a long, winding road of self-absolution in many ways. The truth claws and gnaws at your very being, and it won’t go away just because you ignore it or bury it six-feet deep. For many LGBTQ+ individuals across this country, coming out could mean death, literally or metaphorically. But quite often, it leads to enlightenment and true happiness the likes you’ve never felt. That was certainly the case for Barbara Endes, lead vocalist and guitarist for twang-punk band Girls on Grass. It’s been 20 years since she accepted and embraced her own truth, and now, she offers up a bit of ripened wisdom.

On a new song called “Spill Your Guts,” premiering today, the Brooklyn three-piece ⏤ comprised also of musicians Dave Mandl (bass) and Nancy Polstein (drums, vocals) ⏤ swim across murky and dark waters of personal uncertainty. “I let the big bad wolf in my house / I let the straight world control my head,” remarks Endes over a blues-baked thread line. In carving out her entire journey, the freedom she’s come to cherish so much all comes into crisper and more intense focus. “I let the doubts fall out,” she sings, letting out a hefty sigh of relief.

“You’re gonna hurt yourself more tryin not to get hurt / It’s like when you hesitate before you jump / I was stuck on a bunny hill,” she continues, underscoring the very real fear of those early days, as she teetered right on the edge. “Leaning on them training wheels / I let other people write all the love songs.”

Endes sharpens her bite with a glistening razored edge. She’s not bitter, simply stating facts and the emotional toll as it was then. Now, she basks in her own light and the thrilling ride life has allotted her over the years. “This is a song about believing what your gut is telling you; specifically, what it’s telling you about yourself,” she writes B-Sides & Badlands over email. “Sometimes, we bury our personal truth because we think we’re going to be punished for it. These lyrics tell a story about my life, but I think a lot of people at one time or another suffer from the kind of delusional thinking that takes you down a dark path toward unhappiness, or missed opportunity, at the very least.”

“Spill Your Guts” hits the pavement with a tingling musical sensation, also accentuated with the cool snarl of harmonica. “Musically, this song cried out for a harmonica player, and since none of us play, I brought our friend Glenn Spivack into the studio, and we gave him lots of room to stretch out. It was fun to have a different instrument on board to help tell this story.”

“Spill Your Guts” anchors the band’s new 7″ (paired with “Who’s Gonna Cry”) and follows their sophomore record, 2019’s Dirty Power.

Listen below:

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