There was a time when expressing your affection for soft-rock ’70s hits like “How Deep Is Your Love” by the Bee Gees or “Peg” by Steely Dan would’ve gotten you ostracized, if not beaten up. Those songs are from a genre that would later be termed “yacht rock.”
It is music built on lush harmonies, pristine studio production, jazz influences and an easygoing beachy vibe. It’s about a certain affluent-sounding slick sophistication: mellow grooves, top-tier session musicianship and polished production. Think the Doobie Brothers, Boz Scaggs or Christopher Cross.
It was out of style virtually the moment pop culture moved on, but in 2026, local bands like Mantra are paying tribute to yacht rock.
The band’s self-titled new EP is a shining example of Gen Z’s love of smooth grooves. Mantra plays a release show at the Music Farm on May 1 to celebrate.
The band, which formed a few years back at a very unofficial backyard concert venue called Stu’s House, is centered around the nucleus of singer/guitarist Ben Patrick and keyboard player Noah James, but bass player Justin McRaney wrote “Somebody’s Fool,” the first song, which nails the aesthetic perfectly.
The rhythm is laid back, the production is polished, the harmonies are lighter than air and the lyrics detail a classic romantic trope: “I’m somebody’s fool when I think of you,” Patrick coos as the backing vocals soothe his heartbreak.
The production, courtesy of engineer Corey Campbell, feels so ’70s that you can practically feel the shag rug on the studio walls.”
“I think we’re drawn to yacht rock because of how complex the music can be,” James told the Charleston City Paper. “But it’s still beautiful sounding. It’s not overstimulating. It just feels good.”
“If you listen to ‘How Deep Is Your Love?’ by the Bee Gees, that’s a hit song with like 12 different chords in it,” Patrick said. “But it’s still a catchy song and that’s what’s fascinating about the genre. We get complicated with some of our changes, but it never feels like we’re doing too much.”
The EP’s next track, “Emmy Likes Picking Pockets,” is a clap-along rocker that tells the story of a pretty girl with a rebellious streak.
“Bye bye,” Patrick sings in a sedated croon to his sticky-fingered lover. “No one’s gonna save you this time.”
It’s a more modern twist on the yacht rock sound, with a sun-splashed groove that’s a lot closer to Jack Johnson or G. Love and Special Sauce than Steely Dan.
Patrick, the band’s primary songwriter, wrote “Emmy Likes Picking Pockets.” Much like those 1970s yacht-rock titans, he spent years tinkering with it before releasing it.
“I started writing it in 2020, and I didn’t finish it until 2025,” he said. “I wrote the first verse and then totally scratched it. It was a song about all my friends, and then I turned it into a breakup song.”
Patrick still wasn’t happy with “Emmy,” though. Then one day he went into the studio and Campbell heard him messing around with the song’s guitar riff.
“He said it was a really cool song and that all it needed was a chorus,” Patrick said. “So we wrote the chorus together, and then we had it.”
If you’re one of the previous generation (or two) who grew up rolling your eyes at the songs you might hear at the dentist’s office, this admiration for the soft-rock of the late ’70s and early ’80s is probably surprising. But it’s important to note that the love this band has for that soft-rock sound we once called “cheesy” is genuine.
In fact, Patrick said Mantra will throw in some of those classic yacht-rock songs at its Music Farm release show (after all, the EP only has two songs) and that the crowd will eat those songs up.
“It’s really fun for us to cover yacht rock songs because they’re very interesting for us to play,” James said. “It’s a fun challenge and everybody loves it. We love to play ‘Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)’ by Looking Glass because it always hits live. People sing along and love it. This music never went out of style for us.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO: Doors open at 7 p.m. May 1, Music Farm, 32 Ann St., Charleston. Tickets are $19.25. musicfarm.com
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