There’s something about singer Sammy Elfanbaum, guitarist Mitch Broddon, bassist Chase Mueller and drummer Hunter Pendleton that makes you want to buy them nachos.
Before meeting with the members of the band Post Sex Nachos, I swung by the Drake neighborhood’s coziest dive, The Library, to order a plate of their “Voted Best in Des Moines” nachos, to-go. Per the band’s IG bio, I made sure to get them “served with jalapeños.”
No stranger to Iowa and its nacho offerings, the Missouri-born, Nashville-based indie rockers always make space on their tours for stops in Des Moines, Iowa City or Davenport, where they're a recurring favorite at Alternating Currents Festival.
Mueller remembers being smitten by a sheet pan of the band's namesake courtesy of Stompbox Brewing: a bar, restaurant and popular AC stage. Those chips rank right up there with The Library’s “singular” nachos, according to Broddon.
Alternating Currents
Last time I spoke with the band, they were gearing up to perform at the Redstone Room, a last-minute adjustment due to some threatening weather on the first night of the 2025 Alternating Currents Festival. They took a Polaroid photo of me taking a photo of them, and then lost the camera. They can't be entirely blamed for that though. After all, the weather during their set was unsettled, to say the least.
“We [heard] whispers of weather coming in,” said Pendleton. “And then in about half an hour it went from 'oh, it's like a nice evening' — we were gonna play outside on the street, it was gonna be great — to 'it's dark and the skies are yellow and green. There's crazy things happening.'”
The threat of a potential tornado didn’t ruin the evening though. If anything, it heightened the experience. There was hardly an inch to navigate inside The Redstone Room when Post Sex Nachos and their friends in the Lawrence, Kansas, band Hembree took the stage. Still, the all-ages crowd was buzzing with joy.
Hembree lead singer Isaac Flynn’s bond with the band goes deeper than your average Midwestern kinship. Flynn lent a hand in producing Post Sex Nachos’ 2024 album, Prima/Vera.
Prima/Vera & a little love from James Gunn
Ahead of the release of his 2025 global blockbuster Superman, film director, DC Studios Co-CEO and obsessive music nerd James Gunn shouted out Post Sex Nachos in a major way. Creating custom Spotify playlists curated to each character from the movie’s personalities, Gunn, who also proudly claims Missouri as home, placed the Nachos' “Work Out” in the top slot for Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olson, played by The Righteous Gemstones star Skyler Gisondo.
What’s funny about this playlist — which also features Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” and “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass — is the commonality. Additional songs from Blondshell, The Nails, Cheap Trick and Linda Ronstadt all tell stories of break-ups, philandering or just plain bad relationships.
“Jimmy Olsen’s list of favorite songs is the one that makes me laugh the hardest,” said Gunn in his official intro to the playlist, which fades into “Work Out.” “I think that Jimmy just thinks of these as his favorite songs, and somebody might point out to him … all these songs are about not committing to someone or having multiple lovers. I think Jimmy would be baffled that they had anything, thematically, in common whatsoever."
"Work Out," off Post Sex Nacho's 2024 (and fourth) LP, Prima/Vera, like the album's other massively popular collaboration with The Greeting Committee, "Talk About It," brings a poppy danceability to relatable relationship woes.
Another song on Prima/Vera, “Highlight,” would also fit wonderfully next to “Brandy.” It’s a calm, subdued Nachos departure track, where the boys get as close as they ever have to yacht rock.
“That was one of the latest cuts of that album, that we were like we need something that just fills a different space," said Broddon. "Not necessarily a ballad, but something that feels more in a laid back zone. A little less rock, a little less dancey pop — a little bit more slow.”
“A love song,” added Elfanbaum.
For a funkier effort, turn to “Changes,” which features Elfanbaum strutting his vocals like a roots-rock Mick Jagger.
“I wanna sound like Bonnie Raitt,” said Elfanbaum, “But I can’t, biologically. But, I find a lot of influence in a lot of modern artists. Like a lot of the beltiness comes from listening to a lot of Alabama Shakes in high school. I listened to a lot of old music growing up, so it might just be a lot of yellin’ and trying my best to emulate rock stars.”
Booster Pack and “SOS”
Booster Pack, the latest EP from the Nachos, begins with yearning. “Everything We Used To Do” opens the five song project, and spins regret into bright indie pop in typical Nachos fashion.
Elfanbaum’s vocals surge and slide here, as well as on the album’s next single, “SOS,” which could take the Nachos to the next level. At least, according to one superfan.
“Sammy’s mother was one of the people that said, ‘Oh yeah, this is the one,’” said Mueller. “‘The first time I heard you guys play that, this is your one.’”
Like many of their songs, Elfanbaum (the group’s principal songwriter) brought “SOS” to the band as a fully-fleshed out song. Still, he says the execution is where the track excels.
“It was kind of just a plug and play,” said Elfanbaum of how easily “SOS” came together. “Hunter added some awesome fills. Chase added some cool bass lines. Honestly, [Mitch’s] guitar tone on that song is my favorite on all of the Nachos’ discography.”
Deflecting praise, Broddon credits producer/mix master Micha Tawlks (of bands The Brook & The Bluff, and The Lone Bellow) for that one.
“He just knows really, really well how to mic up an amp,” said Broddon. “Oh my God, I don’t know if I’ll ever find a tone like that ever again through that Super Pro AMP.”
The album's other super-big song, “Supergirl,” is the epicenter of the EP. On it, they implore all the hard-working women of the world to take a breather (“Give yourself a break once in a while”). The sugary sweet single is especially resonant at a Nacho live show, where the crowd’s mean age floats around 20 years old, about how old the guys were when they started Post Sex Nachos in college.
A new Nacho & what’s next?
On May 2, Post Sex Nachos officially added keyboardist Jack Hazel to their roster. Hazel rounds out the fivesome, assuming the role vacated by Kevin Jerez, who’d been with the band since its inception in 2019.
Attentive fans in the audience at xBk in March were given a clue to what’s next for the Nachos. On the crowd-facing side of Elfanbaum’s keyboard was a menacingly minimalist piece of paper with a warning: “THE BIG BAD IS COMING.”
The Nachos claim their upcoming fifth studio album, Big Bad, due to be released Sept. 17, will be unlike anything the band has released before, and will be their most narrative project to date. They’ve given us singles “Sound of You” and “A Lot To Lose (feat. BAILEN)," for a sense of what's to come.
This fall, Post Sex Nachos will return to Iowa, bringing their Big Bad North American Tour to The Raccoon Motel in Davenport on Nov. 1, 2026.
Post Sex Nachos' "Pre Venue Playlist"
20 minutes away from your destination? Listen to these songs, in this order, to pull up to the venue just like Post Sex Nachos:
- "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult
- "Read Me My Rights" by Matt F Basler (fellow Missourian and visual artist behind much of the Nachos' merch)
- "Cocaine Country Dancing" by Paul Cauthen
- "New Guru" by Vulfpeck
- "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan (another Missourian)
- "Strokin'" by Clarence Carter
