Local Music Singles Roundup: October 2022
Local Music Reviews
Trick or treat? October brings many things: warm sweaters, yellow leaves, caramel candy, cheesy horror movies and most importantly, SLUG’s October issue! Take a listen to these fang-tastic local singles and indulge in these hex-tra special reviews by SLUG staff. We know you’ll love the wicked tunes of Blair Street, Icky Rogers, Jazzy Olivo and more eerie-sistible artists—we can feel it in our bones!
“Love(Her)”
Blair Street
Self-Released
Street: 07.24
Blair Street = Daddy Issues + Wallice
With its groovy beat, dangerously catchy melody and potent chorus, Blair Street’s “Love(Her)” provides just the right amount of serotonin. The track kicks off with an instantly appealing chord progression and a light, rocking drumbeat. Heartbroken or not, this track begs the listener to sing along to its heartsick lyrics after only a couple of listens: “What would you do to make it all better / Would you lie or tell me the truth / I don’t have time for a petty, little answer/ Tell me why, oh why?” In contrast to the melancholy of its lyrics, the track has an enticing and chill summer feeling, delivered most prominently through its drumbeat and vocalist Emi’s lively, bouncing melodies. As we move into the chillier seasons, keep that buzzing summer feeling going by streaming “Love(Her).” –Birdy Francis
“Erica”
Fight the Future
Self-Released
Street: 08.16
Fight the Future = Bikini Kill +The Linda Lindas
SLC punk band Fight the Future’s powerful battle cry “Erica” is about a transgender girl faced with hatred from those around her solely because of who she is. The song is undoubtedly punk: short and fiery, from the riffs to the drums to the lyrics. It’s a song you can both mosh to and play while getting ready to protest. The lyrics sing of a girl who stands tall against those attempting to crush her spirit; a girl who grew up hating her body and pursues the truth of who she is. Even though she faces invasive questions and poisonous words from those around her, she doesn’t falter, Fight the Future sings. The song gives hope to those in the same situation as the main character in this song, inspiring others to stand by their side in allyship. Nothing is more punk than being your honest self, making “Erica” an instant classic, and a track to revisit again and again. –Cherri Cheetah
“After The Retrograde”
Icky Rogers
Self-Released
Street: 08.05
Icky Rogers = Sir Michael Rocks + All City Chess Club
Icky Rogers’ new single, “After The Retrograde,” is a lo-fi/chill-hop popsicle of a song that begs for a timeout and a brain freeze. The premise of the track is a cosmic answering machine message asking to leave a voicemail for a response after the planet’s shift. “I’m not really myself right now,” Rogers admits. “I’ll be alright in a couple of days / Call me back after the Retrograde.” The Mercury Retrograde is an optical illusion where it appears the planet Mercury is moving backward. It seems Rogers needs to take time during this period to shift back, call in sick and listen to Erykah Badu records all day. This track is a beauty that Rogers smokes out in a nerdy, hippy haze. Everything sounds like a lazy summer breeze on a hot August night—it’s a perfect pause. I hope Rogers never calls anyone back; I hope to get more songs from this Retrograde. –Russ Holsten
“Kidi Boom”
Jazzy Olivo
Self-Released
Street: 06.28
Jazzy Olivo = Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five + The Comet Is Coming
Jazzy Olivo’s “Kidi Boom” exudes joy and jubilation in excess. In an ode to the body-moving power of music, Olivo flexes all of her musical excellence (there are many) and posits herself as a time-traveling song spiriter. The track is bookended by raucous, second-line arrangements; bouts of buoyant horns and shuffling drumline clatter. Olivo’s voice has a tender sultriness reminiscent of ’90s neo-soul goddesses, and her scatting at the track’s conclusion speaks to volumes of pleasure where language cannot. The track’s jazzy, old-world feel shudders away in “Kidi Boom”’s astonishing middle section: The brass ensemble melts into a wave of sci-fi synths and soaring vocal harmonies, as if the soul-cleansing goodness of the track’s jazzy opening literally ascends Olivo and her band to the cosmos. With this, “Kidi Boom” merges past, present and future into five minutes that sonically transcend linear time and connect generations of good-time troubadours into a single blast of sound. –Audrey Lockie
“There’s Something in the Night That Makes Me Think of You. I Walk in the Morning to Make It Okay.”
Obabo
Self-Released
Street: 07.22
Obabo = Naran Ratan + Abul Mogard
The slow drone at the beginning of Obabo’s (Erick Salazar) electronic composition “There is Something …” is akin to a window left open on a cold desert night—echoes of dawn’s heavy air kiss beads of water onto the rocky earth. Obabo’s masterful, meditative melancholy ebbs and flows as ethereal synths escape from another world and weave into the fabric of the artist’s orchestral dreamscape. Notes sweep across the song like a rolling fog following an inaudible whisper into the void; sharp, hot breath clouds the space of wherever you are when morning comes. The reset button is activated by drawn-out pangs bouncing and molding together between each ear, the synthesist creating convergency while intensifying the whips of a static, pixellated wind. Obabo successfully laments on the pain of an emotional phantom limb as it tingles and drifts away through mindful recognition of the physical world. –Ashton Ellis
“Lovers On the Run”
The Plastic Cherries
UPHERE! Records
Street: 08.31
The Plastic Cherries = Patti Smith + Sparks + David Bowie
“Lovers On the Run,” the new single from glam and art rock band The Plastic Cherries, begins with an energetic bass drum joined by a sharp piano and an irresistible electric guitar hook. Shelby Maddock’s charming voice is comfortingly casual as she sings about finding love while feeling like a misfit and wanting to escape. She details how love’s universal power overcomes these feelings with its ability to take you outside of yourself: “Lovers on the run / Finding a place where our hearts are finally free.” The Plastic Cherries only played their first show together in October 2021, but if you’ve had the pleasure of seeing them live in the past year, you know they consistently bring passion and theatrical energy to their shows. The same energy and chemistry is more present than ever on “Lovers On the Run,” truly embodying the intense emotions of what they like to call “cinematic live pop rock.” –Andrew Christiansen
Find More Local Music Singles Roundups
Local Music Singles Roundup: September 2022
Local Music Singles Roundup: August 2022