GUPPY – Something is Happening… | Album "Review"
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Lauren Records
I should warn you. I’m pretty passionate about the band GUPPY.
Last year, I saw GUPPY live for the first time when they came to San Francisco to open for Chris Farren. Halfway through the set, I turned to the people next to me (acquaintances from a Discord server) and yelled, “THIS IS YOUR FAVORITE BAND NOW.” I was just stating the obvious. Afterward, I went up to the band to introduce myself. “I love you,” I said to J, the front person and primary songwriter. “Thank you,” they said sensibly. “I just don’t understand why they aren’t the biggest band in the world,” I said to my husband Ben in the car on the long drive back to San Jose. “How could anyone hear them and not love them?”
GUPPY is J Lebow (vocals and guitar), Ian Cohen (drums), Kabir Kumar (guitar) and Marc Babcock (bass)
I think the magic of GUPPY is their friendship. The four band members have the kind of friendship that feels rare for adults; effortlessly shifting between “your mom” jokes and real-ass intimacy. That’s pretty much what their music does, too. Each member is essential to the group chemistry and unapologetically themselves. They listen to each other when they talk and when they play. Being at a GUPPY show feels like being a weird kid in middle school and then finding a group of older, cooler, weird kids you can be yourself around (yes, I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower at a formative age). It’s a safe space.
It’s also a FUN space. After all, this is a punk band… kind of. “Texting and driving and driving and texting // I’ll be arriving while driving while texting,” J talk-sings on “Texting & Driving” over a funky bassline and percussion that sounds like it may involve a cowbell, bongos, and/or horse hooves. The fun is always fun, but it is never only fun; that is to say, every GUPPY song has additional emotional depth and purpose beyond their ridiculous antics and zesty one-liners - of which there are many (“I’m catching Kony. It’s me - I got him // I made a trade for Osama Bin Laden // Mission accomplished because America’s awesome // They wrote the scripture and I’m just their golem” - seriously, listen to "Texting & Driving").
With a trademark mix of stubbornness, mischief, and good-natured introspection, GUPPY is a perfect candidate for the “tenderpunk” genre label patented by illuminati hotties shredder Sarah Tudzin, who, oh yeah, also happens to be GUPPY’s producer. GUPPY’s new album Something is Happening… has an undeniably punk spirit; there are themes of resistance and rebellion, there are loud guitars and yelling, there is a song called “I’m Fighting a 10 Foot Tall Nancy Pelosi” that goes out repeating the line, “I’d rather eat the pavement than lick your boot.” But there are also quiet moments of self-soothing, earnest vocals softened by tight harmonies, and a little too much silliness to come across as properly tough. Tudzin lets the huge songs be huge and the tender songs be tender (holy dynamics, Batman) and always lets GUPPY be GUPPY. It would be hard to stop them.
Something is Happening… documents the struggle of trying to be emotionally vulnerable in a way that feels much more relatable and believable to me than anything designed to fit in on Spotify’s “sad girl starter pack” playlist (I will now refrain from complaining about how everyone is ripping off Phoebe Bridgers because I’m tired of hearing everyone complain about how everyone is ripping off Phoebe Bridgers.) “Feelings, they cannot kill you,” J sings on the title track, articulating a pretty good thesis statement to summarize the album*.
*I should warn you. I actually know that this is the intended thesis statement of the album because I heard J say it to lead guitarist Kabir Kumar while we were at their house practicing for a Sun Kin show. That’s right, despite my overall weirdo behavior in San Francisco, we all became friends and collaborators and are actually playing together at that same venue where I first saw them in just a few days. That’s also right - I am totally cheating at music journalism right now with a bunch of insider information. I’m sorry if you made it this far without realizing that and now feel cheated. Let’s look on the bright side though: I am totally cheating innovating at music journalism right now with a bunch of insider information.
(I will now shut up for 2 minutes and 30 seconds while you listen to the title track of Something is Happening… which also happens to be the first track on the album and the first line of the first song on the album. Isn’t that cool? Is there a word for when the first line of an album/book/movie is also the title? Wow, that slide guitar is beautiful. I’m so excited that you’re listening to this album, I really think you’re gonna like it because it’s very good.)
From “Something is happening…”:
Something is happening…
don’t know what it is
But I think I could like it
if I just learn to let it in
If I don’t like it
If it’s not good
Letting it in now
I think I still should
Feelings they cannot kill you
even feelings that want you dead
Living here in this moment
the clouds have come down to my head
Damn. Right, so, the magic of GUPPY is their friendship. The other magic of GUPPY is primary lyricist J’s unique ability to view the world with an outsider’s detachment that is somewhere in between “childlike wonder” and “the blue alien guy with horse hooves and tentacle eyes in Animorphs who has to morph into a human and try to act normal.”
That latter is especially felt when they describe matters of the human body, which happens, like, a lot. J’s ability to communicate their emotions through descriptions of physical sensations, and their ability to notice these things to begin with, is totally baffling to me as a songwriter and as a human**.
**I should warn you. I am a giant prude. I am totally weird about various human body things, in fact, really do not even like typing the word “body” this much, and find several lines from this album super uncomfortable, which just makes them all that more impactful.
From “American Cowboy”:
Standing in front of an open fridge, trying just to keep my chill
Putting my hands in my roommate’s yogurt for something I can actually feel
My hands are feeling sticky
but I’ve got no regret
‘cause all my thoughts and actions
are the fucking best
I’m an American cowboy
and my stomach hurts like shit
I’m gonna find out what you love, and I’m gonna demolish it
Seriously, doesn’t that give off the vibe of someone who is new to having hands? (Someone who is used to having hooves, perhaps?) I have often wondered, "How the hell does J's brain work?" “Wondered” is the wrong word; more like “aggressively interrogated” both J themself and other people close to them. I feel that if I could document the answer to this question, it would be a great scientific breakthrough, and we could use this information to benefit the human race.
I am not alone in this thought. I once heard Chris Farren ask Kabir, "Has J ever made normal music before?" For some reason, my gut reaction was to get defensive, and I said, "Have YOU ever made normal music before?" (narrowly escaping “Has YOUR MOM ever made normal music before?”), but then I immediately realized that this was a very good question that I also wanted to know the answer to. Later, I asked J a version of this question and they told me about the first song they ever wrote. I can’t remember what it was now, but rest assured, it was totally unhinged. It’s funny that Chris Farren is now in here for a second time. I hope he doesn’t mind. You should stream Chris Farren.
Sandwiched in between the vivid sensory descriptions of mundane-ass everyday stuff, you may occasionally find poignant reflections on the human condition on “Something is Happening…” Personally, I find them to be more impactful that way.
From “Mayor Pt. 2” (also see Mayor “part 1”):
Why does it smell like scrambled eggs when I’m driving on the freeway?
What’s the difference between love and hate when I feel it in my body?
Ok, but why does this remind me of that one Mary Kate and Ashley song, and also, why do I feel seen and heard and deeply touched by the fragility of life and the ways that grief can hit you at the most unexpected moments triggered by a familiar smell or taste and the crippling pointlessness of sitting in traffic?
Who makes the finest pizza? What killed the dinosaurs? Why does it smell like scrambled eggs when I’m driving on the freeway?
“I don’t care if it’s stupid, it still means something to me” J sings on one of the album’s sillier songs, “Candied Pecans.” I get the feeling that if something means something to any member of GUPPY, then it means something to them all. That’s friendship right there.
Mission accomplished because America’s awesome
IN SUMMARY
Animorphs is a science fantasy series of youth books written by K.A. Applegate and published by Scholastic. It is told from the perspective of a group of kids and one blue alien guy with sick tentacle eyes and horse hooves who has to morph into a human to fit in. The blue alien guy isn’t that great at being a human, but he’s trying his best to navigate the new sensations of walking on only two legs, communicating with words instead of telepathy, tasting and smelling stuff, and eating food. Also, sometimes everyone morphs into animals and fights other meaner aliens to save humanity. Then they morph back into humans and ignore all their trauma.
Something is Happening… is an indie rock album by the beloved LA-based talk-sing band GUPPY, produced by Sarah Tudzin (illuminati hotties shredder and producer wizard) and released by Lauren Records. It is performed by a group of best friends and narrated by front person J. Lebow, who is a human with a lot of empathy and imagination. J is trying really hard to navigate human stuff like figuring out what to do with their arms, doing laundry, telepathically communicating with animals, tasting and smelling stuff, and eating yogurt. Also, sometimes they morph into a dog and/or fight a 10-foot-tall Nancy Pelosi to save America. Then they morph back into a human and process their feelings through songs.
GUPPY – Something is Happening… | Album “Review” is an article written by Katie McTigue and published by Swim Into The Sound. It is told from the perspective of a girl who is a fan and friend of GUPPY, and also has a sick band, and has decided to pretend to be a music journalist for some reason. Katie isn’t that great at being a music journalist, but she’s trying really hard to write something that sounds smart and has journalistic integrity despite being super biased that GUPPY is the greatest band in the world. Also, sometimes she morphs into a dog and/or fights a 10-foot-tall Nancy Pelosi to save America.
Katie McTigue is in the band Pacing or maybe is Pacing; idk, branding is weird. You can find her @pacingmusic on Twitter and Instagram and pretty much everywhere.
Get tickets to see GUPPY with Pacing on 5/23 in San Francisco!
