Suzie True – Carmen (Get Better Records)

Suzie True – Carmen (Get Better Records)

Ahead of the release of their debut album next month Californian garage pop band Suzie True release single Carmen. 

Suzie TrueArtist: Suzie True
Release: Carmen
Label: Get Better Records
Released: 20 October 2020
Find it: Spotify | Bandcamp

Describing themselves as a ‘cry baby pop punk band whose goal is to have you crying about your crush in the mosh pit’ Californian garage pop trio Suzie True take another step toward achieving that aim with latest single Carmen. In fact, there may be no better way to sum up their sound, or the feel, of this track than with that mission statement.

With a bold but bumbling bassline, a crash of crunching guitars, sweet ’60s girl group vocals and echoing harmonies, and jolting handbrake-turn time changes this is everything you want in bubblegum punk. Slightly self-deprecating yet with a fierce spark, wry humour resonating bittersweet, and all the time with that deliberately ramshackle yet unrelenting rock sound. This song – this band – is an energy you absolutely need to align to right now.

Lexi McCoy, of the band (and previously of the ace Bear Cats) said of the track, “I wrote this song about my first serious relationship – it’s about caring about someone but knowing you’re not a good fit together and realising you have to move on. Especially when you feel like you have to change who you are to be with them. It’s a tough lesson to learn when you’re like 18.

“The song is called ‘Carmen’ because of the lines ‘I wanted to be your Carmen Sandiego, but I got lost trying to find my way home.’ My ex had joked that he had a crush on Carmen Sandiego as a kid, and I thought that was really cute and funny. I felt like I was trying to be what he wanted, instead of being myself. It’s about growing and changing in a relationship, and realising you’re pretending to be someone you’re not.”

Rather than over-burdoning the track with riffs there is just enough space left melodically and lyrically for you to move right into and as happens with garage pop this good I find myself wanting to pick up my own guitar, cross the distance we’re all keeping right now, and be a part of my own gang.

Upbeat and rough-edged, Carmen gives us an enticing taste of the album to come, from a band who aren’t trying to be anything other than what they are: perfect power punk.

Carmen is taken from forthcoming debut album Saddest girl At The Party, due on Get Better Records in November 2020.

Find Suzie True: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | Bandcamp

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Sarah Lay

Sarah Lay is editor of Popoptica.
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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