Soccer Mommy Gets Loud at The Wiltern in Los Angeles
Making her way to The Wiltern in Los Angeles, California this week, Soccer Mommy and her immensely talented band threw down a loud and energetic set. We were there to cover the night’s festivities, so please enjoy our full review and photo gallery below.
For many people, myself included, shoegaze can be a comfort blanket when life is overwhelming or when I am at a low point emotionally and since the 90’s are back, zoomers are picking up all of the interesting and good ideas then running with them. In this new crop of guitar pedal obsessed psychedelia is Soccer Mommy, aka Sophia Allison, the Zurich, Switzerland born and Nashville raised singer/songwriter who has been recording under the Soccer Mommy name for the better part of seven years now.
Soccer Mommy has been on a journey of indie rock fans’ favorite subgenres throughout her whole discography, including; lo-fi, indie pop, dream pop, jangle pop, industrial and the already mentioned shoegaze. She brought all of these sounds to Koreatown’s legendary Wiltern Theater this past week as she’s wrapping up her massive North American tour in support of her fantastic new record, Sometimes, Forever, produced by sound wizard and criminally underrated producer Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never.
Sophia and her band dressed up in matching suits took the pastel psychedelic ink pattern adorned white drapes capped with some inflated clouds that popped with beautiful color. They plowed through their set sprinkling songs from her whole discography without missing a note and keeping the crowd's energy up while somehow staying incredibly focused on making her art sound the best she can. As mentioned, this tour is wrapping up but keep an eye on Soccer Mommy’s social media for what this great project will get up to next.
TOPS is a brilliant sophisti-pop band out of Montreal, Canada in the style of Roxy Music and Prefab Sprout. TOPS core members are singer/songwriter/flutist Jane Penny, guitarist Paula aka David Carriere, drummer Riley Fleck and since 2017 keyboardist Marci aka Marta Cikojevic. Their most recent album, the most excellent, I Feel Alive, came out in 2020 on the band’s own label, Musique TOPS. Oftentimes it's hard to be an opener. People get to the venue early to see someone else all the while you're hoping one of their senses is open long enough to hook them with your music. TOPS sound is subtle and takes a little focus on the listener's end to really listen to hear all of the musical layers, grooves and singer Jane Penny’s angelic voice tell you how her heart breaks for someone. Jane’s stage presence is of the bubbly variety but not the kind that comes off as fake but instead incredibly genuine getting the opening crowd to let their guard down and get into the groove.
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