New York’s The So So Glos are back with their mix of bratty indie-punk for their fourth record ‘Kamikaze’. Drawing on equal parts from Leftover Crack’s anarchic rock and The Strokes’ refined riffs, with their own garage-punk inflections, the physicality New York pervades all throughout ‘Kamikaze’, as The So So Glos take the listener through the city that never sleeps.
It’s not all wide-eyed romanticism, though. Whether it’s on the raucous ode to distraction that is ‘A.D.D. Life’, with its catchy chorus of “I live the A.D.D. life with you!” hiding singer Alex Levine’s insecurities, or in the throwaway lyric of “I can’t get no sleep alone, so I’m taking the whole bar back to my bedroom!” hiding away in the drinking song of ‘Goin’ Out Swinging’, the urgency of modern living creates cracks in the coolness of The So So Glos.
But, despite this, the band keep on keeping on with what they’re doing. They sound like a CBGB’s band that have tried on Albert Hammond Jr.’s sunglasses, decided they look a bit stupid, kept on wearing them anyway and don’t really care, a sentiment shared on the blistering ‘Magazine’, a diatribe against repetitive social media feeds, trashy tabloids and airbrushed celebrities. Lacking in ego, ‘Kamikaze’ becomes a more personal, honest and intimate affair.
And, alongside its honesty, ‘Kamikaze’ is exciting because it’s also a journey – first throughout the dives of New York, breaking out of the four walls of your home on ‘Dancing Industry’, before ‘Devil’s Doing Handstands’ walk down to the station morphs into a journey across the United States. ‘Fool In The Street’s chance encounter with a fast-talking politician in a random city square leads to a journey of political self-discovery, whilst album highlight ‘Kings County II: Ballad Of A So So Glo’ mocks the ego of a “first world narcissist,” as Levine mocks the band’s own self-importance on the album’s most infectious chorus. And when Levine ends up in the parking lot, staring at his own phone screen, he realises he has more in common with these poseur narcissists than he’d like to admit. It’s a funny crack in the catch that, yeah, you’re not all that different from the people you’ve grown up rallying against, levity injected into that awkward sobering moment of maturity.
In between their journey through New York, America, narcissists and themselves, The So So Glos still find time to slow down on 60s influenced ‘Sunny Side’, a nice spice of variety. But ‘Kamikaze’ is ultimately a road trip with the pedal to the floor, enshrined in closer ‘Missionary’s chorus that “nothing’s going to slow me down!” Cool, self-conscious and willing to drag you all over their world, as much self-abuse as self-discovery, ‘Kamikaze’ is a riotous New York sing along that’ll leave you bleary eyed and begging for more.
MATTHEW WILSON