Joe Keery Sings Lead On Post Animal's Psychedelic New Song 'Ralphie'

On Netflix's Stranger Things, Joe Keery has spent two seasons evolving his character, Steve Harrington, from misguided bully to dreamy boyfriend to benevolent protector — all of the while sporting the best lettuce in Hawkins, Indiana. Although because the man in back of the character, Keery's also spent plenty of time honing his abilities as a musician in the musical group Post Animal, where he sings and plays guitar.


The sort — in which Keery plays psychedelic-inspired garage rock alongside five of his Chicago pals — recently signed to Polyvinyl Record Co., And on Tuesday (February 20), the opening taste of their debut album, When I Think of You in a Castle, arrived through the the swirling, panoramic new single "Ralphie."


Keery, who shares lead vocals on the track with bassist Dalton Allison, joined the musical group in 2015 and contributed to the new album, which was recorded at an apparently haunted residence in Michigan and at residence in Chicago; partly because of his blossoming acting career, Keery will no longer tour with the musical group, according to a press release:

It comes as no surprise that our incredibly talented Joe has noticed success in other artsy endeavors, and therefore he is no longer a mobile touring member of Post Animal. We plan to make more magic with him in the future as our fondness for musical group effort remains strong.

Keery's Stranger Things costars Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo have their hands in the music game as well, in the bands Calpurnia and Work in Progress, respectively. They all sound different, obviously, nevertheless Calpurnia's got its own Chicago connection, because the members worked on a debut EP with Cadien Lake James of local musical group Twin Peaks.


I know everything is a meme right now, however it's worth saying that Post Animal's very fun song "Ralphie" shares some DNA with another excellent song that encapsulates the general sentiment I'm attempting to convey here: the one about the men being, case in point, back in town.


When I Think of You in a Castle is out April 20. You could pre-order it right here.