OK Cool - "soaked in"

Photo by Kennedy Cottrell

Chicago duo OK Cool seem to change up their sound slightly with every new single, and their latest is no exception. "soaked in" has this great poppy kind of sound with clunky indie rock guitars and speckled with some New Wave synths. It's a little song that has this giant, epic feel while still keeping its indie charm. It's ridiculously dance friendly while still keeping rooted in rock... although it's fully a pop song. "soaked in" is the kind of song that would be huge if enough of the right people end up hearing it.

Bridget Siebris says of the band's newest song:

“This song was super fun to write and I think it might be one of the most representative of the project as a whole. It’s got a lot of goofy guitar lines and fun instrumental sections going on, and I get to do a lot of yelling which is always a plus. Lyrically, the song is kind of a larger bittersweet look at my adult life so far - reflecting on the bad and the good, and wondering if it's still possible to truly find peace/happiness in myself and my relationships.”

You can watch the video for "soaked in" below. fawn is due out April 28 on Take a Hike Records and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on OK Cool, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram.

OK Cool - "nissanweekends"

Photo by Kennedy Cottrell

Chicago's OK Cool have tapped into a very specific time for their latest single. "nissanweekends" sounds like that very brief time in the 90's as grunge started to fade and just before the mid 90's/late 90's alt-rock power pop took over. It still has that sludge and noise of grunge, but a slightly more pop version. It's more of a slacker style power ballad, and it has some odd little noise rock flourishes. If we need to compare it to other artists, I'm going to go with a mix of that dog, Liz Phair, and Veruca Salt. But a more modern version of those.

Haley Blomquist of OK Cool says of the new single:

“‘nissanweekends’ was written about the monotony of work and the stress that comes with balancing your time around it. It can feel like a waste of time to not be productive when there’s so many plates I’m trying to balance at once, ultimately making it hard to ever relax without feeling like ‘if I lay down, the earth will open up and leave me.’”

You can watch the video for "nissanweekends" below. fawn is due out April 28 on Take a Hike Records, and can be pre-ordered through Bandcamp. For more on OK Cool, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook.

OK Cool - "normal c"

Photo by Kennedy Cottrell

OK Cool are the Chicago based duo of Bridget Stiebris and Haley Blomquist. The band's new single, "normal c," keeps its feet grounded firmly in the world of indie rock, but it's not quite your standard indie rock song. It's a little lighter and breezier than typical indie rock. This one is reminding me a lot of a slightly stripped down Weakened Friends, or if Belle & Sebastian decided to rock out harder. "normal c" is a fuzzy dream pop song with just a little more of an edge than you expect with dream pop. This is a fun and compelling song you're going to want to cram into your ears as soon as possible and as often as possible.

Bridget Stiebris says of the new song:

“I wrote this song about the heaviness I sometimes feel about being out in public, and the eventual conclusion that sometimes I can just accept that feeling without digging into the underlying meaning, or feeling like it’s something that needs fixing."

You can watch the video for "normal c" below. fawn is due out April 28 on Take A Hike Records, and can be pre-ordered through Bandcamp. For more on OK Cool, check out the band on Facebook and Instagram.