GUPPY - Texting and Driving
by Kay Bien
When I die take my texts and delete them.
Texting and Driving is a pop anthem that is all at once relatable, baffling, politically charged, queer, dangerous, and fun as hell. Guppy is an L.A. band via Boston that got a lot of early press for creating a new genre, “Prom Rock.” I have no idea what that means, but my take on Guppy is that they can be about 6 different bands and try to be at least 2 in each song.
If you only hear Texting, you may be expecting a talk-sing shoutfest on every song, but that is not the case. The titular intro to their last full-length, Something is Happening, sets the tone for the album with an atmospheric, almost pop jazz sound that creeps in throughout the record. In another standout, the pop-country tinges of American Cowboy are not entirely contained within the song.
It’s a surprisingly cohesive record for how sonically diverse it is. Even though it came out in 2024, “Something is Happening” is my album of 2025. I’m new to Guppy and excited to check the back catalog. I get the feeling that this album has tons of self-referential callbacks to mayors and dogs.
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