Reggie Pearl is an indie rock musician based in St Louis, joined by Mei Semones on guitar and bass and Micah Rubin on drums. As its title suggests, their latest EP, REGICIDE, is a subversive statement against the power structures of the patriarchy. Three songs that refuse to shy away from issues both personal and universal.
“Did you ever wonder why I stay broken?” Pearl asks at the beginning of opener ‘Say it Back’, a track which segues between gloomy introspection and blazingly fierce indie rock. There are hints of Oh Rose in Pearl’s raw-throated delivery, which confronts the record’s themes of addiction and toxic relationships with raging catharsis. “Rest in peace, you sleep easy now,” they howl from amidst the ruins left in the wake of a bad influence. “And I can’t clean the mess you leave for me.”
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Follow-up ‘One Hit’ explores addiction more explicitly, beginning with denial (“keep that shit away from me”), but slowly slipping into acceptance. The atmosphere is slow and smoky, rising to an energetic spike in the middle before settling back down. Closer ‘Dairy Lottery Tobacco’ picks things up from inside this lull.
This time focusing on a toxic relationship, Pearl again pulls no punches with the direct opening line. “I know you’re no good, but I can only see the good you could be,” a seemingly small self-deception that can excuse so much suffering. The stark drumbeat and snaking guitar give way to what again begins as something almost dreamy, but as the frustration builds so do the noise levels, yelping vocals held aloft on crunchy guitar and cymbal-heavy percussion. As the sound gathers so too does the conviction and anger, Reggie Pearl riding the crest of righteous violence toward the death of those who exert their control.
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REGICIDE is out now and available from the Reggie Pearl Bandcamp page.