Patio are a self-described pastel post-punk band from Brooklyn consisting of Alice Suh (drums), Lindsey-Paige McCloy (lead vocals, guitar), Loren DiBlasi (bass). If you’re not familiar with the term pastel post-punk, I guess I’d define it (judging on this EP solely) as the energy and frustration of post-punk softened with indie pop brightness. The band have recently released an EP called Luxury which serves as their introduction, acquainting us not only with their sound but with their decidedly Millennial mix of anxiety and apathy. This is illustrated perfectly by the opening title track, DiBlasi’s confessional spoken words segments set off against McCloy’s crooned choruses.
“Nothing has a rhyme or a reason
can somebody distract me?
i shift between anger and apathy
luxury and violent tendencies
and I’m bored and i’m
and i’m bored and i’m stuck
and i’m bored and i’m stuck and i’m broke”
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=2386787606 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=200129608]
‘arbitrary numbers’ has a prominent post-punk bass line and tells a tale of social anxiety, of the inability to leave a cluttered apartment. “I can’t make myself go outside and pull it together,” she sings. “it’s a simple to go outside and get it together”. There are further post-punk vibes on ‘half dark’, a song which has some of the former apathy and confusion but also some kind of defiance, a my-life-isn’t-perfect-but-I’m-okay-with-that sort of strength. Next up is ‘gold’, a short and manic burst of punk which drives headlong at the paradox of preaching punk rock values in our consumer-driven, capitalist, society, before closer ‘takeout’ finishes up with another angular elbows-and-knees indie pop track. However this feels a little lighter than the previous ones, with the closing line capturing another pitfall of all this angst and anxiety. What if we’ve been misreading everything all along?
“Thought I was here but I’ve been somewhere else the whole time”
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=2386787606 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=92492764]
Patio don’t just make throwaway pop songs, their music will likely resonate with scores of people across the (Western) world. These are songs for those people who have been given a lucky draw in life and still don’t feel quite right. Those people who sometimes feel sad and bored and confused despite having friends and family and enough money to not have to worry about going hungry or anything serious like that. In short, people disillusioned and struggling to find meaning in their twenty-first century lives.
You can get Luxury now via the Patio Bandcamp page.