SAM SAMPLE TURNS LIFE’S TOLL INTO POP-PUNK GOLD ON “TAX”

New York City-based rock artist Sam Sample is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and has been doing things the hard way: funding her music career herself while working a regular job. She’s bet on herself from the beginning, and with songs like her newest single, “Tax,” that bet is starting to look pretty damn good.

Released August 17, “Tax” takes Sample in a different direction from the indie-folk sound heard throughout her debut album, I’m Moving to the Moon. She actually wrote the song before recording that album, but instead of rushing it out, she took her time dialing in the pop-punk sound she had been hearing in her head.

Sample’s voice lands somewhere between the soulful power of Adele and the unmistakable rasp of Sheryl Crow. Now throw that over a carefully crafted pop-punk backdrop that pulls from The Paradox, Arrows In Action, and a little 2006-era All Time Low, and you’ve got a combination that works surprisingly damn well.

But “Tax” isn’t just a nostalgia trip. The song tackles the reality of moving forward with your life and everything you inevitably leave behind in the process. Following your own path sometimes means friendships fade, relationships end, and people who once felt permanent become memories. It sucks, but that’s part of the deal. Consider it the tax you pay for growing up and moving on.

There’s something refreshing about hearing Sample step outside the sound people might expect from her without completely abandoning what makes her music personal. “Tax” still carries the storytelling and vulnerability of her folk-rock material, only now there are bigger guitars and enough pop-punk energy to make you want to scream along.

Catch Sam Sample at AmericanaFest, taking place September 15–19 in Nashville, Tennessee. Something tells us “Tax” won’t be the last surprise she has up her sleeve.