The Simps are LA duo zzzahara and Eyedress. Now you might be thinking, "Hold up, isn't zzzahara the live guitarist for Eyedress's band?" Yes, they are. But they're also in another band with Eyedress, it's called The Simps. People can have more than one band together. The next thought you're almost definitely having is, "What's up with that name?" Well, they're named for the fact that they play "simp" music, ie Joy Division, Culture Club, Johnny Marr, Mazzy Star, kind of stuff. At least that's the joke. They have at least one LP out, called Siblings, and despite the name, it's genuinely not gimmicky at all. They might seem like they're playing to anglophones who unironically use the word "senpai" to refer to people they have crushes on, but that's really just the bait. The hook is that they've got some decent chemistry going on and it's helped them cook up some really fun songs. Yup, fun. I'm calling Siblings a fun record, despite the dreary tones of many of the synths they employ on it. You really don't get to the dreamier tracks until close to the end of the album, but it's all pretty relaxing and inviting stuff from start to finish. Some of the tracks are love songs, and that's ok. But most of the content seems to just be about zzzahara and Eyedress's lives- living (or at least trying to survive) in the big city and the weird relationships and moods they find themselves drifting in and out of. The production is also very wet sounding, which given the location of the city where the songs are set in, is an inspired touch. Los Angeles isn't known for its proximity to water, so having a full record recorded there that sounds like it's bathed in the ambient humidity of a summer rain storm is extremely satisfying. Imo the most based tracks off Siblings are the ghostly glow of "Green Eyed Girl," the dry, strummy heart-throb of "Heavy," the jittery jangle and scramble of "666," and the satin-coated kiss in the dark "Guardian Angel." What else can I say? If I liked this album any more, I'd be twins.
