B-Side Guys

Jeff Hartwig has lived enough musical lives for ten artists – from getting scolded by Johnny Ramone for stage antics to opening for Train at the Fillmore. But BATTLEFLAGG’s “I Gotta Love” suggests his most intriguing chapter might be the current one, where all that history serves a deeper philosophical purpose.

Working with producer Daniel Knowles (Sharon Van Etten, Cigarettes After Sex), Hartwig has crafted something that transforms Glenn Albrecht’s concept of solastalgia – the distress caused by environmental change in one’s home territory – from academic theory into visceral experience. The production maintains a delicate balance between immediacy and distance, creating a sonic landscape that feels simultaneously familiar and increasingly alien.

This isn’t surprising given BATTLEFLAGG’s nature as a collective rather than traditional band. Formed during the pandemic’s isolation, the project draws from a pool of like-minded musicians who understand how to blend traditional rock instrumentation with ambient textures and electronic elements. The result feels both grounded in Americana traditions and untethered from genre constraints.

What’s particularly striking is how the arrangement mirrors the philosophical undertones without becoming didactic. The integration of drum loops and samples with live instrumentation creates a sense of organic reality being slowly processed through digital filters – a perfect sonic metaphor for watching familiar environments transform into something less recognizable.

From his early days at CBGBs to his current role as curator of this musical collective, Hartwig has always understood how to channel zeitgeist through personal experience. “I Gotta Love” suggests that his time in corporate law hasn’t dulled his ability to capture cultural moments – it’s just given him new vocabulary to describe them.