John Andrews & The Yawns: Finding ‘What’s Good?’ on the Cobblestones of ‘Streetsweeper’
Red Hook is a strange place to live if you have to be anywhere else in New York on time, but it is the perfect place to write a record like ‘Streetsweeper’.
John Andrews spent the last few years there, tucked away near the old shipping yards and cobblestone streets. His fifth album with The Yawns, set for an April 3, 2026 release on Earth Libraries, sounds exactly like that neighborhood: quiet, a little bit isolated, and full of small details most people would just walk past.
Most of these songs started on an electric piano in Brooklyn before traveling to Los Angeles. Andrews recorded them at Luke Temple’s home studio, backed by a familiar crew including Noah Bond on drums and Keven Louis Lareau on bass. There is a certain looseness here that comes from years of playing together in various iterations of The Yawns and Cut Worms. It’s indie rock that that’s lived in, like a favorite jacket that has seen a few too many winters.
One of the standout moments on the record is ‘What’s Good?,’ a track that captures the almost accidental brilliance of Andrews’ songwriting. He explains the process behind it quite simply:
“I wrote the lyrics to ‘What’s Good?’ While walking around my neighborhood & I fit them with a chord progression and melody that I wrote on nylon string guitar in my kitchen. It’s another simple, straightforward song that I don’t think needs much explanation if you listen to the lyrics. It doesn’t really have a traditional song structure/obvious chorus, but I don’t that’s necessary for every song. I had a lot of fun recording this one at Luke Temple’s home studio in LA. Keven Louis Lareau on bass, Noah Bond on drums. Luke Temple on guitar. Keven said he thinks the song sounds like Incubus but I have no idea what the hell he is talking about. It sounds more like Sugar Ray to me.”
That debate between the heavy alt-rock of Incubus and the sunny pop-rock of Sugar Ray is hilarious because the actual song sounds like neither. It’s pure Andrews: jangly, lo-fi, and incredibly earnest.
The making of ‘Streetsweeper’ was not some high-concept studio retreat. Andrews was working for the NYC Parks department while finishing the album, spending his days maintaining soccer fields by the river. He would ride his bike home during his lunch breaks just to track vocals. That blue-collar energy translates into the music.
There is a lot of heart in the smaller collaborations too. Emily Moales from Star Moles adds harmonies, and Will Henriksen brings a fiddle to ‘Something To Be Said.’ Even the artwork feels like a community effort. The cover, featuring two 1980s-era New Jersey Devils hockey players, was painted by Kyle Field of Little Wings.
Andrews still operates on a DIY scale that most artists abandon after their first few tours. He sells his paintings for cheap and projects hand-drawn animations during his sets. ‘Streetsweeper’ is not trying to change the world. It’s just trying to show you a piece of it that you might have missed.
John Andrews & The Yawns Facebook / Instagram Bandcamp
Earth Libraries Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / YouTube / SoundCloud
