From the literal second that this video performance by Tank and the Bangas starts, you’ll feel a smile creep onto your face and an emotion I can most definitely name as pure delight. Aside from the fact that the song itself is a certifiable banger, watching this band do something that they so visibly enjoy down to their very cores with each other should feel like it’s exclusionary to the viewer, but somehow the entire 3 minutes and 56 seconds feels like the complete opposite of that.
Just watching their faces as they rhyme and sing and play bass and saxophone feels like a connection, because it’s like we all share the feeling that music is happy potion. And also, the main singer looks like the type of girl you’d like to befriend because you know there’d be a lot of laughter and hilarious in-jokes (who doesn’t love in-jokes right?!).
The band are winners of NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest, which is a competition where amateurs send in their videos for a chance to perform at the Tiny Desk Concert. And if you have no idea what that is, I suggest you look it up, but be prepared to get lost in an internet wormhole of awesome performances (some of my favorites include Aanderson .Paak (HOW CAN YOU RAP AND PLAY DRUMS AT THE SAME TIME?!), Sylvan Esso, T-Pain (because it’s so surprising) and tUnE-yArDs). [And if you have favorites of your own, tell me what they are!]
Before you do that though, put aside some time right now to watch Tank and the Bangas and repeat as necessary.
Dear Music, I Love You 
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