Los Angeles six-piece The Sophs have ridden a wave of notoriety ever since signing to Rough Trade Records on the strength of their demos – which they cold-emailed to labelheads Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee before they ever even played a show. Following last year’s releases and worldwide touring, the band are ready to unleash their debut album GOLDSTAR, out March 13.
The album’s title track is out today, a ferocious, explosive song with distinctly Latin backing sonics. It is accompanied by a video shot and directed by collaborator Eric Daniels – watch here. The Sophs’ frontman Ethan Ramon explains ‘GOLDSTAR is the worst person you know yelling at God to give them a sign that they are good. In a deliberately unserious way, we want the song to prompt the same question that the album raises, which is – if you are a good person for the wrong reasons, does that detract from your goodness?”
Degenerate posturing. The Sophs’ frontman Ethan Ramon knows what he’s singing is wrong — but how else do you get those impulses out? “Sometimes it’s important to write from the perspective of the worst part of yourself so that version of yourself can live through the music rather than exist in your day-to-day life,” Ramon says.
It’s not him, but it’s not not him. And he’s going to places most people wouldn’t dare.
The band’s brutal honesty, flamingly intrusive thoughts, and broad genre-spreading caught the attention of Rough Trade founders Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee immediately. When Ramon sent a demo reel out to his favourite indies, he wasn’t expecting any replies. But Travis and Lee were in his inbox the next day, asking if he’d hop on a call.
Rough Trade heard the sort of creativity and variety — and “don’t expect me to act pretty” sentiment — that could get The Sophs — including Ramon, Sam Yuh (keyboards), Austin Parker Jones (electric guitar), Seth Smades (acoustic guitar), Devin Russ (drums), and Cole Bobbitt (bass) — a slot on nearly any stage. At any moment, The Sophs are entering pop-punk; blazing through funk; talk-singing to the audience. Their enthusiasm for every iteration is evident, and Ramon’s rich, full voice deftly nestles into endless categories, utterly chameleonic.
“We never try to be as versatile as we end up being,” Ramon said. GOLDSTAR has a Delta Blues-style song; it has a ZZ Top-inspired tune. To some degree, The Sophs see song creation like pop art: they’re focused on the idea of reproducing something over and over again until it’s meaningless. “I want to steal and plagiarize and borrow,” Ramon explains.
The record asks, where’s my gold star? Where’s my validation? Why am I not being rewarded for how much of a good person I am? Am I doing mitzvahs for the right reason? The titular track — which kicks off with flamenco-style fingerpicking — wrestles with the philosophy of really being good and what that looks like.
Most of The Sophs’ songs don’t let the listener relax — mostly because you never know what’s coming next. The band has a passion for sudden and complete destruction, for playing with the tension between pulled-back silence and total explosion. That’s where you hear The Sophs members’ as they really are: explosively positive, happy, collaborative. Think of the “degenerative posturing” instead as a “jester’s privilege.” When they’re playing together in a room, you see nothing like the character they’re putting forward. Instead, you feel a bombastic, thrilling energy that underlies the sextet’s creative power.
Pre-order / pre-save GOLDSTAR here.
Stream / downlaoad ‘GOLDSTAR’ here.
