Tacocat have surprised us with their fourth full length “This Mess Is A Place”. Sometimes, in the middle of what feels like complete chaos none of us have the ability to control, we need to take a minute, sit down, and press play. This Mess is a Place has what it takes to re-energise and set fire to the activist soul in anyone.
The rise of the band Tacocat might just be one of the year’s most surprising success stories. We knew we liked the band the minute we heard their 2016 album, “Lost Time”, we just didn’t know they had the sort of slick-pop that would propel them to the cusp of alternative stardom. The band are set to release their latest album, “This Mess Is a Place”, their first for Sub Pop Records, in May, and have this week shared the latest single from it, Hologram.
This Mess Is A Place is the band’s fourth album, and from what we’ve heard seems to be a giant leap forward, the scratchy punkier sound of earlier material giving way to an ebullient pop sound reminiscent of Diet Cig or Rilo Kiley. Hologram is the latest example, beneath a shimmering exterior the track details a discussion on power dynamics and how perceptions and reality aren’t always the same thing. At its heart it’s a song about stepping outside of the box the world tried to put you in, advising us all to not be held back by the limitations we think we possess, “just close your eyes and think about the Milky Way. Just remember if you can, power is a hologram”.
Tacocat are a band who seem to exist in potentially contradictory worlds, on the one hand there’s a bubble-gum punk band, four friends making music for the joy of doing it, on the other is a band facing up to the difficult world they seen in front of them, as vocalist Emily Noakes puts it, “we can examine some hard stuff, make fun of some evil stuff, feel some soft feelings, feel some rage feelings, feel some bitter-ass feelings, sift through memories, feel wavy-existential.
This Mess Is A Place is out May 3rd via Sub Pop Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 