LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s impossible to hear King Princess groan “I’m a loser” on their ambitious third album and not think of Beck singing the same line in his canonical slacker anthem released more than three decades ago.
Although “Alone Again” is more of an angsty breakup song than an ode to sloth, the evocation of Beck’s “Loser” is fitting for the 26-year-old born Mikaela Straus. In both Straus’ guitar-driven pop music and her public persona, the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist exemplifies an offhanded irreverence that artists who aren’t men rarely afford.
Unlike their previous album, “Hold On Baby,” which veered into a solemnity so full of ballads that it sometimes felt in conflict with Straus’ playfulness and snark, “Girl Violence” is a return to form. (Her 2018 debut EP, “Make My Bed,” artfully balances sincerity with sass.)
“I’m sorry my love / You’re (expletive) insane,” she sneers on the album’s ambient opening title track.
In “Jaime,” Straus seeks to play coy and appear unflappable toward the object of her desire. That concerted effort eventually belies a desperation.
“You’re just a fly in my glass,” Straus sings coolly at the beginning of the track. But by the end, they surrender — accompanied by a cacophony of shoegaze-y synths, guitars, percussion and a Mellotron. “I’ve been secretly wishing you’d date me / Despite all the times you were wack / If you told me I’m cool, I’d collapse.”
That sonic and lyrical contrast exists throughout “Girl Violence.” Scoffs mask tears. Tenderness glistens beneath declarations of violence. “You prep my despair / You know I like it,” she croons on “Girls,” a torch song about self-destructive queer lust. Sultry instrumentation and doo-wop-esque background vocals evoke both melancholic longing and excitement.
Even as Straus sings about heartbreak and insecurity, the album remains mostly tonally upbeat. “Everybody wants me / Just ask your man, babe,” she taunts on “Cry Cry Cry” over punchy drums and her warm electric guitar.
However, a couple songs struggle to find their place on this record. “Origin Story” and “Say What You Will” come to mind. Those moments would have fit better on Straus’ mostly moody, midtempo first album.
By large, that Straus is a bona fide rock star is more apparent when she plays live than on their restrained recorded pop songs. But she occasionally shows off her virtuosic skill on her records, like with the crunchy guitar solo at the end of the otherwise laid back “I Feel Pretty.”
That oscillation — between gritty and pretty — is a defining theme of “Girl Violence.”
Three and a half stars out of five.
On repeat: “Get Your Heart Broken”
For fans of: Maggie Rogers, St. Vincent, dirtbag feminism, trolling the internet with Christine Baranski
