SadGirl is a Los Angeles-based garage rock trio who specializes in a vintage sound — and interestingly, their latest album, Water, which Suicide Squeeze Records released earlier this year, finds the trio tapping into the romantic and nostalgic spirit of their hometown while exuding an authenticity that suggests that they’ve peeked at the scuzzy underside of the manicured lawns, glitzy boulevards and relentless sunshine.
“If you want to learn about water, go to the desert,” the Los Angeles-based garage trio’s recording engineer and friend Max Garland has sagely said in press notes, and unsurprisingly that statement made a huge impact on the band’s Misha Lindes (guitar, vocals). “Here we are in Los Angeles, a desert ping-ponging between drought and El Nino. This record is just an attempt to share a very small portion of my experience growing up and living here,” Lindes says of the album. “It’s basically just about the fluidity of water and its power and importance.” And while seemingly post-apocalyptic, the album is a collection of old-school tinged pop songs, recorded with vintage recording techniques with the album being pieced together from a series of recording session over the past two years that employed a variety of tape machines in different setups — from living rooms to professional studios.
Water‘s later single is the slow-burning, Roy Orbison-like ballad “Miss Me.” And while rooted in a traditional of bittersweet and aching love songs written from the perspective of the tortured and heartbroken lover, yearning for that love interest, who has cruelly spurned them — for another or for no particular reason. But underneath that bitter sentiment is a heartbroken tell-off to that lover, to “miss me with that bullshit” before walking away from them for good with your sanity and dignity. “This song is about realizing someone close to you isn’t the person you thought you knew, and coming to terms with the fact that they may never share the same values as you,” SadGirl’s Lindes says of the song. “Getting to that point where you decide that it’s no longer worth the effort and it’s better to walk away with what’s important to you still intact.”
Directed, produced and edited by Nathan Castiel, the recently released video for “Miss Me” is a slick and stylistically shot visual that’s split between the band perfuming the song in a sparsely furnished studio and some goofy footage of people drinking “Water” branded water. “This song really hits close to the heart,” the band’s Misha Lindes say sin press notes, “so it was awesome to have so many friends involved and making cameos. It’s also the first time that we’ve ever done a non “narrative” video, so it was a totally new experience for me. We love collaborating and working with friends on projects, so getting so many homies involved was awesome. I feel like the video perfectly captures that thin corny smile that sometimes disguises someone’s true intentions.”
The members of Sad Girl will be embarking on a lengthy national tour from August to October that will include an October 4, 2019 stop at The Knitting Factory. Check out the tour dates below.
