B-Side Guys

North Brunswick’s Birthright has mastered the art of the suburban battle cry. On “Star,” the trio’s latest single, they’ve distilled teenage bedroom daydreams into something both harder and softer than their “soft punx” designation might suggest.

The track’s central declaration—”Fuck all that, I’m a star/The world makes you forget who you are”—hits with the kind of raw conviction that can only come from years of practicing in your parents’ garage with your best friends. Gabe, Eddie, and Zack have transformed their lifelong friendship into a sonic weapon, wielding dream pop textures like brass knuckles wrapped in velvet.

What’s particularly effective is how the production balances their punk spirit with more ethereal elements. The arrangement creates a perfect container for that defiant hook, letting it float somewhere between a middle finger to the universe and a love letter to the self. It’s the sound of throwing rocks at the stars and expecting them to shatter.

Following their breakthrough single “See Through,” this track suggests Birthright isn’t just making music for the Garden State—they’re making music for anyone who’s ever stood in their backyard at midnight, looked up at the sky, and decided the universe got their measurements wrong. The result is both a continuation of and departure from New Jersey’s rich rock legacy, proving there’s still plenty of magic left in those suburban streets.