Bachelor - "Stay in the Car"

Somehow we missed the debut single of Bachelor, the collaborative project of Melina Duterte of Jay Som and Ellen Kempner of Palehound, but luckily we're on top of the second single. I don't know why, but I didn't expect "Stay in the Car" to rock quite as hard as it does. Sure, there's quite a bit of the modern indie rock blended with pop sound we'd expect from this duo, but "Stay in the Car" is quite obviously very Pixies inspired. From the loud/quiet/loud song structure perfected by the Pixies to the fact that the guitar just sounds like some killer Joey Santiago riff. On this song, Bachelor sounds like the Pixies leaned into the mainstream a bit more but kept their edge and sound fully intact. 

Ellen Kempner explains the story behind the song:

“I wrote the lyrics to ‘Stay In the Car’ back in December of 2019 when I was in Florida for my partner’s top surgery. I had run out one afternoon, post op, while he was healing to grab lunch for us and as I was gathering my stuff in the parking lot, a big car pulled up and this absolutely beautiful woman got out. She was dressed all in red, dripping with jewelry and had the most wild fiery mane I’d ever seen. She was yelling at the man behind the wheel asking him what he wanted from the store and I wished I was that man. I wanted to be a part of her life, her best friend, her driver, whatever she wanted me to be. I was completely mesmerized.” 

You can watch the video for "Stay in the Car" below. Doomin' Sun is due out May 28 on Polyvinyl. You can pre-order a copy of the album here. For more on Bachelor, check out the band's website.