Track Premiere: Charlie & Margot – “Giving Up”

Posted: 30th November, 2023 by The Editor

In another life, Matteo DeBenedetti fronted indie rock group Toy Cars. An Alt favorite, the Asbury Park four-piece were cut from the same cloth as fellow NJ heartland punks like Gin War and The Gaslight Anthem but faded away quietly after unceremoniously dropping the appropriately titled EP4 at the end of 2019.

DeBenedetti’s kept himself busy since, though. He’s writing and recording as Charlie & Margot these days, and dropped an eight-track LP earlier this year after an EP under that name back in 2021. Joyride isn’t terribly far removed from what Toy Cars was doing; DeBenedetti seems to know his talents lie in breezy, billowy alt rock tunes.

That’s exactly what “Giving Up” is, too. We’re excited to premiere Charlie & Margot’s newest single before it hits streaming services tomorrow, and it’s the purest expression of DeBenedetti’s ethos yet. It’s a soaring alt rock track with crunchy riffs that crash and break like waves off the Jersey shore, and a hook that allows DeBenedetti to flaunt his inner rockstar: “I don’t care!” The production of “Giving Up” is far crisper than any of the previous Charlie & Margot material, too, which makes for a punchier, more immediately gratifying tune–one as good as his old band’s greatest hits.

Give “Giving Up” a spin below.