{"id":96004,"date":"2026-06-26T08:06:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T07:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=96004"},"modified":"2026-06-26T08:06:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T07:06:06","slug":"sgt-splendor-are-brave-rough-and-ready-to-go-with-new-music-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2026\/06\/sgt-splendor-are-brave-rough-and-ready-to-go-with-new-music-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Sgt. Splendor Are ‘Brave, Rough, And Ready To Go’ With New Music Video"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The brainchild of two very different musical minds, Sgt. Splendor has nonetheless never sounded like a compromise, but rather more like two fully formed creative worlds, united by a shared Southwestern upbringing, which has found unexpected common ground. Kate Vargas and Eric McFadden had each long carved out their own distinct musical lanes, with Vargas as a songwriter, gifted with vivid imagery and an unconventional Americana sound, while McFadden has been defined by restless musical exploration, an impressive number of solo projects, and collaborations with George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Angelo Moore, Anders Osborne, Jackson Browne, among others.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The pair officially met at a songwriting festival in 2018, despite having travelled for years in the same circles. The spark was instant, and the pair started writing together soon after. Since then, they’ve shared tours, weekly livestream performances during lockdown, and amassed a growing catalogue of collaborative material, and Sgt. Splendor has emerged as the ultimate convergence of their individual worlds, both a creative and personal partnership, the ultimate convergence of their individual worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sgt. Splendor have made joy, community, and creativity their form of protest, and new single, ‘Brave, Rough, and Ready to Go’ serves as both a warning and a dare, shining with their signature swagger, grit, and groove. The track is darkly cinematic, as it takes listeners on a journey through a richly hallucinatory soundscape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taken from their critically acclaimed album,\u00a0‘Isotopia’, ‘Brave, Rough, and Ready to Go’ is a taste of what is to come from their highly highly anticipated fourth studio album,\u00a0‘Electric Idol’, set for release on the 16th of October. Supported by a bluesy guitar riff (think John Lee Hooker’s, ‘Boom Boom’), the song also flits between pop, rock, and folk, as Kate Vargas’ vocals are direct and emphatic, piercing through the melody, giving way in the end to Eric McFadden’s powerful finger-plucking, that continues through to the end of the track. This is truly a duo who recognise each other’s strengths, and as a result allow each other to shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the song may feel urgent and intense, the music video is far more relaxed, transporting viewers back to San Francisco’s notorious\u00a0Barbary Coast\u00a0red-light district of more than a century ago. The band’s identity has over the years become more and more entwined with the world of circus and immersive performance, with Vargas and McFadden collaborating with performers from traveling tent shows, and touring for four months with one of the last family-run circus shows in the country, and drawing inspiration from the live spectacle and energy of the Big Top. This culminated in them\u00a0participating in\u00a0a full-production live performance,\u00a0‘The Soiled Dove’,\u00a0with San Francisco’s Vau de Vire Society.\u00a0In the clip for ‘Brave, Rough, and Ready to Go’, is set inside an old-timey brothel saloon extravaganza, chaos around every corner, overlaying footage of spectacular acrobatics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘The Soiled Dove<\/a>‘, an incredible, not-to-be-missed event, that includes a special musical performance by the legendary singer-songwriter Joan Baez, returns on August 7th for its second season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the stunning music video for ‘Brave, Rough, and Ready to Go’ below, and find out more about Sgt. Splendor and their music online on YouTube<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Sgt.