Sass Chew Toy LP
SASS are a four-piece from Minneapolis that self identify as “Midwest grunge pop.” I’m already sold on that description alone. The lead-off track “Nice Things” has this syncopated vocal melody in the chorus that sounds like a mermaid singing from the sea floor, though in the bridge of this same song, the singer really reminds me of Tonia from the LIPPIES. I think it’s a really nice mix of style and sound. In the song “Role Model,” the singer belts out these lines that really caught my attention: “Filling myself with empty calories / What even is an empty calorie / I can’t be myself / Around anyone else / There’s a list of things I can’t do / ’Cus I’m a shitty role model.” It’s a rad and disaffected song about how society expects a person to operate. Then in “Gut Feeling,” I hear a mix of the GITS and the BREEDERS, especially with that bass heavy intro. I’m fucking loving this.