Buckle Up Baby
Eric Gasa
The first salvo of Buckle Up Baby’s debut sighs like delicate bedroom pop gold; a casual, deadpanned, sing-song-y affair wrapped tightly in the humble twine and wax paper charm of DIY rock. The song, “Bad Teacher” gives us the band’s mission as a whole, especially the music video with its goofy, classroom antics, fisheye lens shots ala VHS aesthetic, and frontwoman Addie McKenzie’s warm croon into the camera.
The whole record clocks in under 15 minutes, shorter than the car ride across town to a Buckle Up Baby gig but its staying power is in the realness and transparency of McKenzie’s voice; a storyteller who sings forlornly like a sailor lost in the doldrums of the Midwest.
McKenzie’s style suggests the introverted, self-aware indie rock of Adult Mom, Frankie Cosmos, and Blonde Tongues. She sings about dogs, eating oranges, and the noticeable type-o’s in PowerPoints; for her, it is the small, seemingly mundane details in life that make the greatest songs.
On “Oranges” an eerie synth spread descends upon the chorus while McKenzie sings about the possible differences between clementines and tangerines; “as long as it tastes good,” she says. The attitude is one-part Liz Phair another part Frankie or a lighthearted GirlPool. McKenzie’s mellow vocal and personal musings picks at nostalgia like a scab.
On “Bad Teacher” she teases the chorus like a lighthearted taunt while the band’s instrumental billows into earshot like clouds coming over the horizon.
“You gave me a bad grade,” McKenzie laments, “I gave you a bad review on that website for bad teachers.”
She flicks the line away like a cigarette butt.
The result is five short, sweet songs, a charming live show, and a statement to Addie McKenzie’s mission to to make the biggest sentiments from the smallest romanticisms at her fingertips.
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Buckle Up Baby is Addie McKenzie on bass and vocals, Cole Simmons on guitar, drums by Joe Wilson, and Anna Wilson on keys. The album was mixed and recorded by Joe Misterovich. Check out their Bandcamp here.
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