REVIEW: Cookies? No. Just Girl Scout’s latest EP Headache
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY KORA ELMS FLEMING ☆
STOCKHOLM BAND GIRL SCOUT RETURNS TO THE SCENE WITH THEIR LATEST EP HEADACHE. I wish every headache felt as good as this EP. Girl Scout contains Emma Jansson (guitar, vocals), Per Lindberg (drums), Viktor Spasov (guitar), and Kevin Hamring (bass). Coming from a background of jazz and a shared love of 80s and 90s garage rock and brit pop, Girl Scout spins their influences around and with a twirl gives a modern air to indie rock. Headache breathes life to monotonous parts of life, annoyances, bad friends, bad relationships, and gives them a brush off the shoulder, but not before singing about it. “They all know things about wine now/But the bottle always takes like ass.”
If you’ve been searching for something like Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, Alvvays, and a tinge of old 2010’s indie rock, Girl Scout is your answer. They combine indie instrumentals with Jansson’s clear, confident, and thorny voice, creating something even better than a frozen thin mint cookie. Off of the momentum of their previous EP’s and an Alvvays tour, Girl Scout returned to the studio, working with Alex Farrar (producer of MJ Lenderman and Snail Mail). Farrar's influence can be felt and heard, yet Girl Scout is undeniably their own. Jansson described Headache as “AAAAAAAAH!!!!!!,’ ‘THAT feeling. Straight-up hate and frustration. Feeling hurt and feeling funny about people. Feeling funny about life as a whole.” AHHHHH is delivered in all of its glory but in a twisted way that keeps your feet moving and your finger on the rewind button.
“Desert Island Movies” kicks off the five-track EP perfectly. This track feels like crossed arms and anxious fidgets, not taking a deep breath till you’re on the way home from a weird hangout. “You just want to feel important/Have some relevant things to say.” It’s a track about growing up, and quite honestly feeling annoyed about it. “Honey” the single off of the EP is upbeat, with cutting lyrics and a bittersweet undertone.
“Headache” cools the album down for two minutes and fifty-two seconds, it reads like a, “you won’t believe who I saw” conversation with friends. Girl Scout fills in the gaps of conversation, revealing inner thoughts and circling emotions. They do it almost effortlessly; there's enough self-awareness in them to make it not too perfect. That’s what makes this EP good. It’s a fumbling of emotions, annoyances, and confusion all packaged around kick-ass, creative lyrics and a face that says everything.
In my opinion, “I Just Needed You to Know” and “I’m So Sorry” are the best tracks of the EP. They close Headache with a one-two punch, making the listener feel it. “I Just Needed You to Know” is full of indie rock power, big riffs, and force. The closing song “I’m So Sorry” starts with a reserved power, building into a full out confession. This track feels like the final eruption of all the feelings bottled into the EP. Like a bubbling of words, repetition of lyrics, and an agitated “AAAhhhHhhh,” there’s an air of collapse and begging for forgiveness, with a Headache as a side effect.
I can tell I’ve liked an EP if I want more of it. Breaking news I do. Headache is addicting. Its lyrics are relatable, funny, real, and raw, encapsulating every 20-year-old feeling that I’ve heard and felt in the past few years. There’s a sense of knowing everything and nothing, feeling frustrated, insecure, secure, lost, and found again. Every lyric is punched in with a grunt and a smile behind it. This EP has me waiting by my phone for an album announcement. If Headache was a Girl Scout cookie, I’d want 100 boxes.
