by Katie Stollmack (@katiestollmack)
Try not to be surprised when I tell you the title of Atlanta punk outfit Upchuck’s new album is facetious. I’m Nice Now, the band’s first album with the British label Domino, carries all the same fierce rage as their earlier projects with newer tricks up their sleeve. Makes you wanna get up, freak out, and scream with them.
The album opens with “Tired,” an all-encompassing track expressing long-held frustrations with the current state of the world. The song opens with an instrumental revving up, followed by lead singer Kaila “KT” Thompson’s shout of “And I’m tired of darker news / And I’ve tried warnin’ you / It feels right scarin’ you / I guess I’m preachin’ to the whole damn choir huh?” The lyrics begin suddenly—seemingly in the middle of a sentence, highlighting the infinitely pessimistic political scene we live in today. The song furthers this theme with its repetitive lyrics, chants about the nature of our world. Despite the title, though, the song is an angry call to action, kicking off a fiery album.
Notably, the vocals switch from KT to drummer Chris Solado for two songs: “Homenaje” and “Un Momento.” Even someone who doesn’t speak Spanish (like myself) can pick up on the fire in these songs. Solado’s vocals are gritty and fast. A raspy shriek comes out at the end of certain lines, carrying a message across language barriers.
I’m Nice Now is fast-paced and compact. Nearly every song gets its message across in a minute or two except for “Forgotten Token,” which knows exactly what to do with its three-and-a-half minute runtime. “Forgotten Token” is a reaction to how American culture devalues Black lives. The song concentrates the album’s general anger onto one concrete subject. The deeply personal turn inward to vocalist KT’s family is incredibly impactful.
“Slow Down” was my personal favorite track. I adore the fuzzy guitar riff that opens the song, and how it goes on to play with KT’s vocals. It’s an apt comment on political scenes, and the exhaustion that comes with constant fighting. KT voices a frustration with the pressure to stay perfect while faced with the increasingly disastrous state of the news. It’s a nuanced comment that pairs well with the rest of the album’s rallying cry.
I’m Nice Now is a fired-up punk album. You could call it refined, what with the crafted lyrics and skilled instrumentation. But it has a wonderfully punk blown-out-speakers rough sound to it that keeps it firmly within the band’s DIY roots. This is the same Upchuck I discovered in local music magazines as a teenager, only they’ve grown into themselves even more.