© Oli Turner

Mint Green is sweet shock: cool and fresh enough to diffuse the July heat.

 
When the Boston band opened for Arrows in Action at Brighton Music Hall on July 20, their set confirmed a hypothesis I’d formed since I first saw them perform last month: Mint Green can convert a crowd of concertgoers, many of whom have never heard their music, into instant fans.

I first discovered Mint Green at WERS’s 617 Day concert on June 17, where the band was one of three acts I wasn’t familiar with. That show kicked off a solitary summer of attending the concerts of bands I’ve never heard of, squeezing into crowded spaces with strangers, and absorbing Boston’s music scene as a curious bystander. I wanted to be surprised, and Mint Green was the biggest surprise of the night.

Getting to know the band is electrifying. Mint Green’s energy ranges from soft introspection to punk-rock rage—always passionate, and always skillful.

Each set starts without fanfare: on July 20, with just an informal stroll to the microphone before the distinctive guitar riff begins “Take Care,” an angsty, upbeat track off the band’s 2018 EP, “Headspace.”

The song is a good one to start with, putting Mint Green’s musical versatility on display. Melancholy guitar quickly launches into edgier chords to match the song’s lyrics: “I hope that guilt turns you into a shell of a man / Did you ever think twice or was this always your plan?… / I never wanted to know you.”

Of the band’s next song, “Callie,” frontwoman Ronnica tells the crowd, “I wrote this song when I thought I couldn’t write anymore, based it off a friend’s poem, wrote it, Mint Green was born, and here we are today.”

“Callie” was released in 2016 on the band’s first EP, Growth.” To this day, it remains the band’s most-streamed song on Spotify at 170,900 plays. The verses have a mellow, hypnotic rhythm, broken by a chorus that oozes nostalgic hurt: “This is not the home I left behind / You’re complaining about your nervous insides / But you’ll keep spinning like everything’s alright / While the memories flash before my eyes.”

Next, the band covered Post Malone’s “Circles.”

“Since it is your first time seeing us, most likely, we wanted to give y’all an opportunity to sing along to a song,” Ronnica said.

The band injected the song with the same emo-rock style that colors their discography, decorating the longing lyrics with electric guitar and booming drums.

Live renditions of “Trying” and “Ready” from Mint Green’s latest album showcased the heavier, more pop-punk side of the band’s talent.

Compared to the group’s live performances, their recordings sound softer and more ambient, but nearly every track has a complex turn of intensity towards the end. If you’ve seen them live, you can extrapolate, layering the memory over the recording: Ronnica belting over guitar riffs, how the instruments crescendoed and her voice kept up, cutting through the noise.

The final song of the set was “Body Language,” the first single and most popular song off their album All Girls Go to Heaven, which debuted last month. The song was featured on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds: Rock” playlist and BBC Radio 1’s “Future Alternative” playlist.

Since forming in 2016, the band has played Boston house shows and pubs—now performing at Brighton Music Hall three times since September 2021. It’s clear the band is growing in popularity, attracting listeners with their features on popular playlists and playing back-to-back gigs across the Northeast.

“My new favorite band?!?!?” read the caption of a video reposted on the band’s Instagram story. It’s pure delight—the effects of the Mint Green’s fresh sound, high energy, catchy hooks. The music jolts you into that color, and suddenly you know what they mean by “mint green.” You get it.

The best kind of excitement is the one that you can’t help but feel. That’s the excitement of first discovering Mint Green when they’re playing right in front of you. You’re not missing out anymore. It’s the excitement of hearing the swelling drum beats on “Body Language,” like something brand-new thundering in to change your world; anticipatory, heart-skipping and achingly true. It’s like knowing a secret.

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