Kevin Bronson on May 15th, 2020

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The Happy Hollows began their erratic orbit around L.A. environs about the mid-2000s, their agit-rock packing venues like Spaceland and the Echo (their 2007 residency at the latter was particularly memorable). It was like having the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or the Pixies living next door; the locals turned up to see always-smiling frontwoman Sarah Negahdari do everything but pistol-whip her guitar while co-founder Charlie Mahoney played steady-eddie on bass.

The Hollows have released three albums, 2009’s “Spells,” 2014’s “Amethyst” and 2017’s “Concordia,” their sound slowly migrating from prickly indie-rock to no-less-edgy post-punk accented by analog synths.

Originally a trio, Negahdari and Mahoney have welcomed two new members as they work on their fourth album — guitarist Scott Munro and drummer Glenn Fryatt. And they’ve been holing up with producer Lewis Pesacov (Best Coast, FIDLAR, Nikki Lane, Guards, Valley Queen, among others), with whom they worked on “Amethyst” and “Concordia.”

“Great Unknown,” out today, is the band’s first new music since 2017, a bounce-along jam with a typically exuberant Negahdari supported by a rubbery bass and yappy synth. “The song celebrates embracing a new future in which so much is uncertain,” the band says simply.

Not that anybody would need 4 minutes of something resembling optimism right now, but …

||| Stream: “Great Unknown”

||| Previously: “Meteors,” “Feel the Moon,” “Way Home,” “Astrid,” “Endless,” “Galaxies,” “Spells”-era interview