WATCH THE "YOU AND I" MUSIC VIDEO VIA ROOKIE HERE
Upset have shared a music video for the track “You And I” via Rookie Magazine. In the video you can watch rich privileged kids, played by comedians Whitmer Thomas, Clay Tatum, Budd Diaz, Rodney Berry, James Pumphrey, Jess Lane, Chris Thayer and Michael Busch, choose life on the streets pretending to be broke gutter punks. The video, shot on location at The Church on York and directed by stand-up comedian Sean O’Connor, is a parody (mockery?) of Soul Asylum’s video for the 1993 hit “Runaway Train.
ABOUT UPSET:
For the past few years, Ali Koehler has been best known as the drummer of the pop group Best Coast and the noisy girl punk trio Vivian Girls. After her departure from Best Coast, Koehler decided to step up from behind the kit to front a band of her own, embracing her melodic punk-spirited songwriting impulses with Upset. Joined by Patty Schemel (of Hole) on drums and Jennifer Prince on lead guitar and vocals, Upset will release its massively hooky debut record, She’s Gone, this fall.
With 12 songs in just under 30 minutes, it’s a pop-punk album that immediately sounds classic, full of unshakeable hooks and the sincerest of shouts. It is fitting that She’s Gone will see a release with Don Giovanni Records; the record could easily fit in the record collections of Ergs or Lemuria fans. She’s Gone was recorded primarily at Koehler’s house in April of 2013 by Kyle Gilbride of Swearin’.
As a songwriter, Koehler draws on the snarky angst and punk simplicity of her previous bands, with a delivery that masks angry and cheeky lyrics with a sweet-sung and wide-eyed infliction. She’s Gone opens with “Back To School,” conveying that sense of first-day anxieties and uncertainty that comes with a return to an old routine. “First day back’s a heart attack,” Koehler sings. It’s an intro to the sort of personal and relatable lyrics she sings throughout, full of anxious introspection. “Game Over” (written and sung by Jenn Prince) is bored and angsty, channeling distant vox and 90s-indebted noise-pop guitars; “Never Wanna” is an urgent and impatient earworm. “I just don’t know what to do / I can’t stop thinking of you,” Koehler sings.
“Queen Frosteen” uses childlike, upbeat rhymes and a sticky chorus to set up her indictment of a friendship gone wrong. “When she sets the scene / it’s a sugarcoated fantasy,” she sings, in a way that’s so overly sugar-sweet, it almost sounds sarcastic. “Queen Frosteen, my enemy / she’s everything and I'm nobody / Queen Frosteen, my enemy.” The closing track sounds similarly burned and pissed about it. “This was a lesson learned / this is goodbye,” the band sings, girl-gang style. “That’s not what friends are for.”
She's Gone has moments of self-doubt and resonant angst (“I can’t remember feeling worse than this,” Koehler sings on “Oxfords and Wingtips”) but it has a sense of humor about it as well; “About Me” even starts with a giggle. It’s a sort of record that’s not afraid to have sincere open-book, downer moments, but doesn't take itself too seriously.
Tour Dates
11/15 - Seattle, WA @ Black Lodge *
11/16 - Portland, OR @ The Know Bar *
11/18 - San Jose, CA @ The Blank Club *
11/19 - Oakland, CA @ 1-2-3-4 Go! Records *
11/20 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *
11/21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex *
11/22 - San Pedro, CA @ Harold's Place *
11/23 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar *
* = w/ Screaming Females
* = w/ Screaming Females
UPSET
SHE'S GONE
(DON GIOVANNI RECORDS)
OCTOBER 29th, 2013
1. Back to School
2. She's Gone
3. Oxfords and Wingtips
4. Queen Frosteen
5. About Me
6. Game Over
7. Don't Lose Your Dinosaur
8. Never Wanna
9. Let It Go
10. Tobacco
11. Phone Calls
12. You And I
UPSET
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