Punk guitar fuels a blast of rage through stages of romantic grief in The Midnight Marauder’s “Goodnight Bella.” The song combines furious, self-accusatory energy with rambunctious noise and some clever lines that capture the feel of clinging to a relationship gone sour.

“Where do I go from here that isn’t home with you?” grabbed me instantly for the sheer wandering-lost feel of losing a serious relationship. (Plus, there’s cultural resonance with Semisonic’s familiar “you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”)

Here is a spot where efforts to make sense are undermined by that distant-radio inner voice. I find a lot of truth in how the chorus insists on (grudging) acceptance, while the verses keep retracting it all and hamster-wheeling through forms of misery and rage. Yep. It be like that.

The song has a raw, live-performance energy that calls for jumping up and down during the chorus, which will get your serotonin flowing. (Reinforce those support beams, small music venues!) In the spirit of its punk forebears, the overwhelming energy of the music itself celebrates needing to vent: misery has a great time in company.

“Goodnight Bella” is planned as the opening track for an album-in-progress, If I Said Goodbye. I’m now curious about the rest of the songs and hope you are too. (Follow The Midnight Marauder on Spotify, and make sure to also check out the cover of “99 Red Balloons” – yes, that “99 Red Balloons”!)