Review: Pang by Caroline Polacheck

After Confessions on a Dancefloor, I told an LLM what I disliked about it and asked for more pop recommendations. A little whittling led me to Pang. I'd never heard of Caroline Polachek before, but this is a pop album I can get behind. At least, it seems to have all the trappings of art I like: it doesn't sound manufactured for mass appeal, the text seems to support multiple interpretations, and there's an intentionality about it that feels authentic. I suppose I'd call this "arthouse pop".

The lyricism is quite good; it's not riddled with cliches like so much pop I'm familiar with. She's fully speaking the language of pop, so we know we're not getting anything too groundbreaking in terms of subject matter, but the language is expressive without feeling purple and bears further scrutiny.

The first half is comparatively gloomy and despondent. I Give Up has a dirty, broke-ass beat that feels hollow, stripped down; it matches the topic perfectly. Look at Me Now is the type of folk-strummy ballad Taylor Swift wishes she could write. Insomnia is the clear low point: oppressive, sludgy, discordant, despairing. The melody jumps all over the place and at times it's downright screamy, autotune used masterfully thruout.

Ocean of Tears marks the transition to a more uplifting and optimistic B side ("show me the future/Yeah, I'm all eyes"). It's back to the pop formula of short verses and frequent, catchy chorus; sort of an overture for the second half. After this, we're a bit closer to Route 1; it feels more like radio pop. The "vocal guitar solo" sung over the background vocals repeating "show me the banana" in So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings is hilarious and wonderful.