Pool Kids – That's Physics, Baby | Single Review
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I’ve waited years for this moment, so I’m just going to come right out and say it. There’s a new Pool Kids song.
Whew, that felt good.
For those not in the loop, the Florida math rockers first made waves in the emo scene back in 2018 with the release of their debut album, Music To Have Safe Sex To. Spawning from an initial friendship between singer and multi-instrumentalist Christine Goodwyne and drummer Caden Clinton, the duo booked a short studio session that resulted in a collection of nine proggy, freewheeling rock tracks. With no shortage of goofy song titles, iconic riffs, and references to mathy predecessors like TTNG, these songs immediately placed Pool Kids in a continuum of bands walking the line between overwrought emo and tappy, hyper-technical guitarwork. These elements, combined with endearing brushes with pop-punk greats, quickly signaled that this band was destined for something more than the rigid confines of “emo music.”
In the time since their first album, the group has been rounded out by guitarist Andy Anaya (of fellow Florida greats Dikembe and You Blew It!) along with bassist Nicolette Alvarez. Together, they make four of the most talented musicians ever assembled, as anyone who has seen ever Pool Kids live can attest. While fans were treated to a jokey hardcore one-off for April Fools Day 2019 and an Audiotree session that captured the newly solidified lineup’s full prowess, specific weirdos like me have been eagerly waiting to see what this band would do next because, at times, the possibilities truly seemed endless.
Pool Kids even signaled their return in early 2020, going back to give album highlight “$5 Subtweet” a proper video, but whose grand plans haven’t been disrupted since then?
Now that you have the background, you can appreciate when I say that the return of Pool Kids is something I’ve been anticipating for years. Years of wondering what this newly minted lineup would result in, countless nights spent swaddled in my Pool Kids hoodie listening to Safe Sex, and now we have ourselves a new song. I am happy to report that somehow, some-fucking-how, lead single “That's Physics, Baby” lives up to my insurmountable hype.
In what feels like a nod to the band’s origin, the track begins with the two people who made up the first iteration of Pool Kids; Clinton and Goodwyne. We hear a drum hit and then are immediately dropped into a shreddy guitar lick. Together, these instruments fuse into an innovative groove that could only have come from the minds of this band. Soon, the bass and a second guitar join the fray, rounding out the riff and pushing the song up into the stratosphere.
In the music video, we watch a listless Goodwyne struggling with her “Untitled Documentary” as bills pile up on the desk of her cozy wood-paneled office. Set in Washington, we see the band as a motley crew of filmmakers staking out the lush Pacific Northwest wilderness in search of some type of small furry creature. Adorned in the finest early-90s attire and armed with cutting-edge home video technology, the band hams it up, making their way through forests, caves, and mountain tops, all in pursuit of the perfect shot. Things get even more Twin Peaks-ey as this narrative alternates between this communal journey of the band and shots of Goodwyne drinking, smashing mirrors, and struggling to assemble her project.
As the video’s tone bounces back and forth from dark to goofy, the lyrics languish in the painful feeling of a failing relationship. The verses hinge upon a persistent theme of losing time, whether it’s lines about clocks moving backward or just a general sense of wasting away. It’s a slow-sinking quicksand of a feeling that any bad relationship inevitably hits. This pain is punctuated by an immensely catchy chorus of “Telling you what I / Telling you what I need / I’m telling you what I / Telling you what I need.” As much as I can’t wait to sing along to this live, within the song’s narrative, these lines are delivered with a sense of frustration, Goodwyne practically pleading for the person on the receiving end to listen to what she is saying.
The video ends with an over-the-top slapstick moment as Caden cracks open a soda, the can exploding in his face and knocking him backward off his chair. As the rest of the band doubles over with laughter, the chorus plays out one last time, and the camera resolves on a close-up of Goodwyne staring off into the distance… Is she catching a glimpse of the animal they’ve been searching for the whole video? Is she experiencing a moment of clarity? As we hear “Telling you what I / Telling you what I need” one final time, the lyrics become re-contextualized. I choose to interpret this shot as a realization that, despite the arduous journey, emotional strife, and financial difficulties, this group of friends, and maybe even that one laugh, was the thing Goodwyne was truly in search of all along.
Pool Kids’ self-titled album is out on Skeletal Lightning 7/22. Pre-order here.
