Grumpy, the Brooklyn band led by frontman Heaven Schmitt, has grown from a solo project into a six-piece group with predominantly trans members, blending alt-country with what The Guardian calls "jubilant solidarity."

Schmitt started the project between stints collaborating and touring as a backing vocalist with country-pop star Zach Bryan. The Guardian's new music playlist feature, published 11 September, spotlights the band alongside its "weirded-up country celebration of trans joy."

The group's structure is as notable as its sound. Some members have dated each other or are dating, and all of them work collaboratively on recording, producing, mixing, creating artwork and making music videos — a fully self-contained operation.

The Guardian frames the band's ethos in the language of queer community. "Found family is something that queer people talk about a lot," the feature notes: "finding your people and sticking with them is necessary in a world that often seems to want you quiet at best and dead at worst." Grumpy, in this reading, functions as both a band and a demonstration of that principle in practice.

For listeners new to the group, The Guardian offers a positioning: fans of Wednesday, This Is Lorelei and Alex G — acts known for bending indie and country forms into stranger shapes — are the natural entry point.

The band's next release, "Unfindable Ring," arrives on 23 October, the next chance to hear where Schmitt's collective takes its hybrid of twang and trans celebration.