By It’s our Bandcamp picks of the Week, featuring the zany punk rock of Big Bill’s SICK MYTH and the quirky indie pop of cootie catcher’s SOMETHING WE ALL GOT!
Big Bill – SICK MYTH
Genre: Egg Punk
Favorite Tracks: “Cameras,” “The Money Store”
If modern art is singing at the edge of a volcano, what makes anything truly meaningful? The state of the world is so apparently abysmal that every glittery diva and haggard crooner is chronicling the decay in real-time. And while I’d never deny anyone their doomsaying, there’s good and bad (beyond the validity).
And I think Big Bill is a proper measuring stick.
The Austin band’s latest, SICK MYTH, recognizes this “predicament” and says that in an “era of countless TikToks evoking the dark ironies of late-stage capitalism,” the 13-track LP is a “roller-coaster through the wreckage.” Sure, some fare proves more thrilling than other compositions. “Young Men of the World” tackles the manosphere, but the band’s penchant for deadpan doesn’t seem to go full bore (and that’s something to keep in mind album-wide). Meanwhile, “Cameras” addresses the surveillance state, and by adding mansions to that list, they blur satire and sincerity. When SICK MYTH maintains that sweet spot, the LP accomplishes something hugely gripping.
The title track works for being both direct and channeling shared apathy (“I don’t really think they care at all / I don’t really need a crystal ball”). “Worm Within,” meanwhile, sets its ode to the working class at a pork processing plant, and that visceral tinge does wonders for our attention. Even lines about cups of coffee, and phrasings like “US of A,” amid “The Open Door” makes this dissection of hustle culture seem like a big goof demanding some collective ROFLCOPTER-ing.
Are there downsides to this record? Sorta. Musically, the band tend to emphasize one “setting”—either Talking Heads fronted by Rodney Linderman, or Parquet Courts featuring Dr. Demento. I mean those comparisons with maximum respect; it’s just that their sound can feel overly locked in. It’s frenetic and angular in all the right ways, but I obsessed more over their storytelling than any other sonic accomplishments. There’s an overt creativity and technical prowess I wish presented more melodically.
Even still, there’s a heft and liveliness driving the record’s awkward, anxious take on egg punk. And to me, that is ultimately what makes SICK MYTH feel so vital amid a sea of social awareness. Whether they’re tempering real issues with humor, or adding barbs to their jokes, you recognize that intent-filled heft. It’s very real to them, and while this specific social awareness should never be “trendy,” you can’t deny it gets good clicks nowadays. But that’s not Big Bill’s concern: They show us what’s really there, pointing out the bombed-out institutions with horror and expressing glee over rabid, looksmaxxing incels. This is the world we live in, and it’s worthy of our bright-eyed, slightly cynical engagement.
There’s a line on “The Money Store” that goes, “My blood is red if I say so / Jingles sound good on my radio.” That sentiment (subtle patriotism and an admission of modernity’s fecklessness) is the America I seek to salute. It made me laugh and cry all at once, and much like the rest of the LP, it felt like both a salve and smacking an open wound. And that’s what we really need more of now—music that doesn’t just show us the gaping crater, but reminds us of the absurdity and earnestness that actually makes this country worthy of true devotion. Play the “new national anthems” right now on Bandcamp. [Chris Coplan]
cootie catcher – SOMETHING WE ALL GOT
Genre: Twee Pop, Indietronica
Favorite Tracks: “Straight drop,” “Quarter note rock,” “Gingham dress,” “Puzzle pop”
Arriving a year after SHY AT FIRST, what was cootie catcher’s most spirited outing to date, SOMETHING WE ALL GOT does it one better. The Toronto four-piece have stepped into the studio space for the first time, their energetic twee pop entangled in clattery indie folktronica now beaming with enormous exhilaration. With Nate Amos of Water From Your Eyes and This Is Lorelei also brought into the equation, even before listening, cootie catcher’s delightfully quirky sound is more robust than ever.
As usual, squiggly synths twirl and spiral, while bustling drums and acoustic guitars keep them from tumbling out of control. The nonchalant, interchanging voices of Sophia Chavez, Anita Fowl, and Nolan Jakupovski cement cootie catcher’s bond throughout. Each a contributing songwriter, to no surprise, their processing of young adulthood’s existential musings thematically overlap. What the subtle studio polish has offered is more opportunities to get giddy.
Stretchy vocal samples open the brisk “Lyfestyle,” then leftover studio chatter later leads to froggy-sounding electronics. “Straight drop” suddenly speeds up the pace with sprinting drums that race against the frolicking guitars—this is far from the last time that the tempo jolts. “From here to halifax” is as open-hearted as the titular plea being made to take a chance at love: “If you have half a heart / Follow me from here to Halifax.” Meanwhile, the swaying “Wrong choice” is ever-so-slightly disorienting, a clever nod to its narration on romantic hindsight.
Glimmering guitar twangs indebted to Beat Happening grace “Rhymes with rest,” while “Quarter note rock” is a wonderful reinvention of turn-of-the-century twee. The latter swirls with euphoria, its likenesses pointing to a cross between Guther, Stereolab, and Advantage Lucy. The indietronica influence appears with chirpy synths and cut-up voices dancing with the guitars, like those bubbling in “Gingham dress” and “Puzzle pop.”
This vibrancy shows cootie catcher aren’t afraid to open up about the tough things in life. They confront that headfirst with endearing, hyperactive melodies, allowing them to thrive and have fun in the face of challenges. To still smile when something’s not going your way is a lovely way of navigating the world. Check out their new album on Bandcamp. [Dom Lepore]
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