April Harper Grey, known professionally as underscores, made herself known with her 2021 debut Fishmonger. Released at the crest of the hyperpop wave, underscores distinguished herself with her glitchy production and infectious hooks—often drawing from EDM and Dubstep sensibilities—as well as opening for hyperpop standard-bearers 100 gecs. As interesting as Fishmonger was, 2023’s Wallsocket is definitely a stylistic shift. For one, it’s a concept album, promoted by an elusive and complex alternate reality game (ARG) that introduced us to some of the characters and plot beforehand. Also, the music itself is quite the departure from Fishmonger, showcasing underscores’ flexibility. The genre inspirations are diverse; obviously hyperpop still makes its mark on the record, but rock subgenres such as pop punk, slowcore, and shoegaze let themself be known, and there are definitely some inspirations from folk and country as well, especially in the instrumentation. The lyrics are both direct and deeply complex, the production is both in-your-face and lush, the instrumentation is both abrasive and beautiful. Overall, underscores transcends genre boundaries to tell an invigorating and prolific story, and compose my favorite album of the 2020’s so far.
Track 1 - “Cops and robbers”
The album opens with a minimalistic bassline that suddenly ignites into a power pop, garage rock audio explosion. For a song about a resident of Wallsocket, Michigan who was caught embezzling $425k from his bank to feed his crystal meth addiction and is now on the run from the authorities, the breathless pacing of the song is quite fitting. There’s just a driving to the whole song, like you’re sprinting as fast as you can, much like Joshua Domingo trying to outrun the Michigan State troopers after stealing the identities of the deceased. “When's the last time you saw someone with a ski mask and a gun? Get on the inside, You gotta do it like me,” is a line that I particularly like, besides being the catchiest bit, due to its apt description of the often anti-climatic nature of modern white-collar crime.
Track 2 - “Locals (Girls like us) [with gabby start]”
Opening with a list of seemingly unrelated concepts that have become in modern consumer society, the voices give way to the mantra of “Arms, Body, Legs, Flesh, Skin, Bone, Sinew, Good Luck!” (the motivic chants of “It’s the new wave of the future!” in Fishmonger are replaced in this album by this simple phrase) before blasting into the infectious beat. This track, an EDM inspired song pulsating with brash but extremely danceable energy, introduces to the main players of our story, three highschool girls in Wallsocket. S*nny is a transgender girl who struggles under oppressive conservative catholic parents, and while deeply religious, is beginning to question her own faith. Mara is a girl who has been obsessed with S*nny ever since early childhood and has reached the point of stalking her. Old money bitch is, as the name would imply, a girl from a very wealthy family. Embarrassed of her status, she desperately tries to hide it by any means necessary. The line “We’ve been inseparable since 2009, she just doesn’t know about it yet!” stands out to me, summarizing the nature of Mara’s obsession with S*nny perfectly.
Track 3 - “Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”
In this song, S*nny is diagnosed with a rare disease, and interprets it as a sign from God. Pleading with him, she asks what sin she has committed to deserve such a punishment. The song begins with a series of “Duhhh!”s played in stereo space, before a quiet guitar melody is accompanied by April’s vocals. Even on a slower track such as this, she still makes use of her signature glitchy production to create an uncanny feeling that lingers throughout the track, before the whole thing crescendos into a powerful catharsis of guitar and synth and cymbals. The line “Dear God, could you be more subtle next time?” is one I particularly like, as it displays the internal conflict in ever-pious S*nny.
Track 4 - “You don’t even know who I am”
This song puts Mara’s obsession on full display. She breaks into S*nny’s house and sulks in her bedroom while she pretends to be her. A 1950’s children’s television programme-esque announcer exclaims in the background: “Everybody has bad days, don't worry! It's not the end of the world, there's always tomorrow!
You can do it!” The instrumentals convey the exact opposite however, as slowcore guitar, harmonica and spacey synths (with occasionally telephone beep) convey an atmosphere of pure defeatist melancholy, as Mara herself is disgusted by what she has become. It’s gut wrenching, and extremely effective.
The lines “Today is the best day of my life: I invited myself in and wore your clothes, took your pills, cried your makeup off; and for once I felt just like you.” are some of the few song lyrics that have actually made me cry. They’re so descriptive of Mara’s parasocial deterioration in her attitude towards S*nny, and of Mara’s lack of self control.
Track 5 - “Johnny johnny johnny”
Musically, this song is probably the lightest and catchiest. The bassline is menacing, but everything from verse to the hook is so contagiously catchy that it's practically impossible to keep from singing along. However, lyrically, this song is absolutely one of the darkest on the album. In it, S*nny recounts the time she was groomed by a man named Johnny when she was 11. Johnny talks to S*nny through an instant messaging application, and is able to garner her affection by exploiting her transgender identity. Due to being one of the few people that views S*nny how she wants to be viewed, Johnny is able to convince S*nny to meet up at his apartment. After Johnny attempts to grope S*nny, she makes as many excuses as she can, and leaves the situation as quickly as possible. “Johnny, Johnny, Johnny says to bid my life farewell, So I do, I do, I do. 'Cause no one else but Johnny sees me like I see myself…” This line summarizes the predatory nature of Johnny’s relationship with S*nny elegantly, and just how malicious Johnny was for taking advantage of S*nny’s desire for femininity. This song also happens to be the first underscores songs I ever heard after it was introduced to me by a friend, and the dark lyrics juxtaposed with the catchy hook immediately caught my interest, prompting me to investigate further.
Track 6 - “Shoot to kill, kill your darlings”
Starting with a glitchy and sardonic “Hip Hip Hooray!”, this song quickly transitions into a hollow sounding bassline with a punchy beat. The lyrics are from the perspective of Old money bitch, scared to lose a close friend. This friend believes the only way out for them is joining the military to fight overseas, despite coming from an upper class family and having good grades. Old money bitch is confused as to why he is so eager to pursue this career, and is worried he will get killed overseas. The line “'You're still just a little kid; you shouldn't have to choose how you die.” nearly made me shed a tear. All of the characters in this story are so incredibly young yet are expected to make decisions that will permanently affect their life afterward, so of course tragic mistakes are going to happen. The song ends with a glitchy distorted outro that transitions seamlessly into the next track.
Track 7 - “Horror movie soundtrack”
This track is one of the simplest on the album, but arguably one of the most haunting as well. The instrumental is a simple acoustic guitar slowcore song that strums along ghastly and solemnly. Feedback loops and glitchy ambience slowly drift atop the simplistic instrumental. In it, Old money bitch, due to her friend leaving for the military, and due to her apathy towards life itself, attempts to commit suicide by various means, while screaming “You won’t get away with this!” defiantly. “The world's in my fingers and I can't feel a thing” sums up her situation pretty well: She was born into wealth, spoonfed everything she ever wanted or needed, and thus left without a goal. Her privilege and emotional numbness came hand in hand. Now, she feels she lives without a purpose.
Track 8 - “Old money bitch”
My personal favorite; let me begin by saying that this track is an absolute BANGER. It conveys all of the best parts of EDM-colored 2010s pop while still sounding modern and extremely visceral. And it somehow manages to do this off of a BANJO RIFF? Also, holy hell, the synth solo at the end is the musical equivalent of crack cocaine. This song speaks volumes to April’s talent and versatility. It also happens to be IMPOSSIBLE not to sing along to, especially the chorus of “She’s the daughter of a billionaire!” This song further explains Old money bitch’s predicament. Specifically, Mara bashes Old money bitch for trying to hide her wealth, and makes it abundantly clear to everyone else where her background lies. Of course, Mara is being hypocritical, hiding something herself: Her unhealthy obsession with S*nny. This one is chock full of good lyrics (especially the detailed descriptions of Old money bitch’s attempts to hide her wealth), but I always find myself cracking up at Mara’s taunt of “Did you know your parents are on Wikipedia?”
Track 9 - “Geez louise (with henhouse!)”
This is the longest track on the album, clocking in at 7:21. This makes sense, seeing as the song covers a lot of ground, both in the many different sections of the instrumental and the expansive subject matter. It's simply impossible to condense something that switches between aggressive punk with scream vocals and twangy folk-country and anthemic pop while discussing the implications of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines and its implications on the gender identity of the main character into a neat 3 minute track. Also you may have just read the previous sentence and went “Excuse me, what?”, and that’s definitely a reasonable reaction. Let me let April herself to explain via her words in an interview via Paste Magazine:
“I’m Filipino and, pre-Spanish colonization, there was this third gender where there were a lot of people born male and presenting as female, and they had this shamanistic [presence]. They would help other people interact with the spirit world. When the Spanish came over, it slowly got phased out. And now all my relatives are Catholic.
[“Geez louise”] was my reckoning with all the emotions that come with this. That’s why it’s so all over the place and frenetic. And that’s why I got my friend henhouse! on it, because we share the same Venn diagram.
When I was writing this album, I knew there needed to be a trans character. In anything I do, there’s probably going to be a trans character in it. There’s some things I can’t really look at without the intersectionality of being trans and its connection to it.”
Essentially, the song is about S*nny discussing all of this with another girl named Jordan, and its effects on S*nny’s previously unwavering faith. “People like us were among the divine until the cops arrived” is a favorite line of mine. Something about likening the Spanish colonizers to “the cops” is profoundly funny, but also poetic and accurate.
Track 10 - “Seventyseven dog years”
In this song, another somewhat glitchy acoustic ballad with the occasional “Pony up, motherfucker!” played in the background, Mara comes clean to S*nny. She admits everything she did to stalk her, and genuinely wishes her a good life. This shows Mara growing as a person, and finally learning to have some respect for other people. Overall, this song is one of the more straightforward on the album, but still thoroughly enjoyable. “Oh my God, I hadn't evеn knew” is a line I always like the delivery of, S*nny’s shock upon finding out that Mara’s father was actually Joshua Domingo, the man who embezzled money from Wallsocket’s deceased to pay for his meth addiction.
Track 11 - “Uncanny long arms (with Jane Remover)”
An anthemic pop song that makes liberal use of April’s glitchy production and feedback-loop instrumentals, this song features hyperpop juggernaut Jane Remover. In it, Mara wakes up and looks in the mirror, noticing that her arms are longer than usual, a metaphor for her over-reach into S*nny’s life. During a procedure that is possible due to some lore reasons that I AM NOT GOING TO GET INTO DUE TO ME NOT BEING ALL THE WELL VERSED IN THE WALLSOCKET LORE, Mara is able to get her arms surgically reduced. “And I had this crazy feeling that nothing was out of reach anymore. “And I had a terrible feeling I could touch you from over here”, sung by Jane Remover, touches on Mara’s situation on two levels. For one, her arms obviously have longer reach, but more importantly, Mara was able to reach parts of S*nny’s life that she was not supposed to by stalking her for so long.
Track 12 - “Good luck final girl”
A simple acoustic ballad with folksy vibes to it, and a nice way to end the album. The “Final Girl” is a trope in horror movies, as the character who lives to tell the gruesome tale. This could be interpreted as a callback to “Horror movie soundtrack.” “Good Luck” is also a mantra repeated throughout the album, tying the album together nicely. In this song, Mara, S*nny, and Old money bitch reach adulthood and decide to part ways. My favorite line has got to be “I'm postponing my suicide indefinitely” from Old money bitch. It’s both tragic and hopeful; the apathy that made Old money bitch want to end her own life has dissipated and been replaced by the grieving she has for her friend that was killed in the army. She now feels like she has a reason to live.
The album opens with a minimalistic bassline that suddenly ignites into a power pop, garage rock audio explosion. For a song about a resident of Wallsocket, Michigan who was caught embezzling $425k from his bank to feed his crystal meth addiction and is now on the run from the authorities, the breathless pacing of the song is quite fitting. There’s just a driving to the whole song, like you’re sprinting as fast as you can, much like Joshua Domingo trying to outrun the Michigan State troopers after stealing the identities of the deceased. “When's the last time you saw someone with a ski mask and a gun? Get on the inside, You gotta do it like me,” is a line that I particularly like, besides being the catchiest bit, due to its apt description of the often anti-climatic nature of modern white-collar crime.
Track 2 - “Locals (Girls like us) [with gabby start]”
Opening with a list of seemingly unrelated concepts that have become in modern consumer society, the voices give way to the mantra of “Arms, Body, Legs, Flesh, Skin, Bone, Sinew, Good Luck!” (the motivic chants of “It’s the new wave of the future!” in Fishmonger are replaced in this album by this simple phrase) before blasting into the infectious beat. This track, an EDM inspired song pulsating with brash but extremely danceable energy, introduces to the main players of our story, three highschool girls in Wallsocket. S*nny is a transgender girl who struggles under oppressive conservative catholic parents, and while deeply religious, is beginning to question her own faith. Mara is a girl who has been obsessed with S*nny ever since early childhood and has reached the point of stalking her. Old money bitch is, as the name would imply, a girl from a very wealthy family. Embarrassed of her status, she desperately tries to hide it by any means necessary. The line “We’ve been inseparable since 2009, she just doesn’t know about it yet!” stands out to me, summarizing the nature of Mara’s obsession with S*nny perfectly.
Track 3 - “Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”
In this song, S*nny is diagnosed with a rare disease, and interprets it as a sign from God. Pleading with him, she asks what sin she has committed to deserve such a punishment. The song begins with a series of “Duhhh!”s played in stereo space, before a quiet guitar melody is accompanied by April’s vocals. Even on a slower track such as this, she still makes use of her signature glitchy production to create an uncanny feeling that lingers throughout the track, before the whole thing crescendos into a powerful catharsis of guitar and synth and cymbals. The line “Dear God, could you be more subtle next time?” is one I particularly like, as it displays the internal conflict in ever-pious S*nny.
Track 4 - “You don’t even know who I am”
This song puts Mara’s obsession on full display. She breaks into S*nny’s house and sulks in her bedroom while she pretends to be her. A 1950’s children’s television programme-esque announcer exclaims in the background: “Everybody has bad days, don't worry! It's not the end of the world, there's always tomorrow!
You can do it!” The instrumentals convey the exact opposite however, as slowcore guitar, harmonica and spacey synths (with occasionally telephone beep) convey an atmosphere of pure defeatist melancholy, as Mara herself is disgusted by what she has become. It’s gut wrenching, and extremely effective.
The lines “Today is the best day of my life: I invited myself in and wore your clothes, took your pills, cried your makeup off; and for once I felt just like you.” are some of the few song lyrics that have actually made me cry. They’re so descriptive of Mara’s parasocial deterioration in her attitude towards S*nny, and of Mara’s lack of self control.
Track 5 - “Johnny johnny johnny”
Musically, this song is probably the lightest and catchiest. The bassline is menacing, but everything from verse to the hook is so contagiously catchy that it's practically impossible to keep from singing along. However, lyrically, this song is absolutely one of the darkest on the album. In it, S*nny recounts the time she was groomed by a man named Johnny when she was 11. Johnny talks to S*nny through an instant messaging application, and is able to garner her affection by exploiting her transgender identity. Due to being one of the few people that views S*nny how she wants to be viewed, Johnny is able to convince S*nny to meet up at his apartment. After Johnny attempts to grope S*nny, she makes as many excuses as she can, and leaves the situation as quickly as possible. “Johnny, Johnny, Johnny says to bid my life farewell, So I do, I do, I do. 'Cause no one else but Johnny sees me like I see myself…” This line summarizes the predatory nature of Johnny’s relationship with S*nny elegantly, and just how malicious Johnny was for taking advantage of S*nny’s desire for femininity. This song also happens to be the first underscores songs I ever heard after it was introduced to me by a friend, and the dark lyrics juxtaposed with the catchy hook immediately caught my interest, prompting me to investigate further.
Track 6 - “Shoot to kill, kill your darlings”
Starting with a glitchy and sardonic “Hip Hip Hooray!”, this song quickly transitions into a hollow sounding bassline with a punchy beat. The lyrics are from the perspective of Old money bitch, scared to lose a close friend. This friend believes the only way out for them is joining the military to fight overseas, despite coming from an upper class family and having good grades. Old money bitch is confused as to why he is so eager to pursue this career, and is worried he will get killed overseas. The line “'You're still just a little kid; you shouldn't have to choose how you die.” nearly made me shed a tear. All of the characters in this story are so incredibly young yet are expected to make decisions that will permanently affect their life afterward, so of course tragic mistakes are going to happen. The song ends with a glitchy distorted outro that transitions seamlessly into the next track.
Track 7 - “Horror movie soundtrack”
This track is one of the simplest on the album, but arguably one of the most haunting as well. The instrumental is a simple acoustic guitar slowcore song that strums along ghastly and solemnly. Feedback loops and glitchy ambience slowly drift atop the simplistic instrumental. In it, Old money bitch, due to her friend leaving for the military, and due to her apathy towards life itself, attempts to commit suicide by various means, while screaming “You won’t get away with this!” defiantly. “The world's in my fingers and I can't feel a thing” sums up her situation pretty well: She was born into wealth, spoonfed everything she ever wanted or needed, and thus left without a goal. Her privilege and emotional numbness came hand in hand. Now, she feels she lives without a purpose.
Track 8 - “Old money bitch”
My personal favorite; let me begin by saying that this track is an absolute BANGER. It conveys all of the best parts of EDM-colored 2010s pop while still sounding modern and extremely visceral. And it somehow manages to do this off of a BANJO RIFF? Also, holy hell, the synth solo at the end is the musical equivalent of crack cocaine. This song speaks volumes to April’s talent and versatility. It also happens to be IMPOSSIBLE not to sing along to, especially the chorus of “She’s the daughter of a billionaire!” This song further explains Old money bitch’s predicament. Specifically, Mara bashes Old money bitch for trying to hide her wealth, and makes it abundantly clear to everyone else where her background lies. Of course, Mara is being hypocritical, hiding something herself: Her unhealthy obsession with S*nny. This one is chock full of good lyrics (especially the detailed descriptions of Old money bitch’s attempts to hide her wealth), but I always find myself cracking up at Mara’s taunt of “Did you know your parents are on Wikipedia?”
Track 9 - “Geez louise (with henhouse!)”
This is the longest track on the album, clocking in at 7:21. This makes sense, seeing as the song covers a lot of ground, both in the many different sections of the instrumental and the expansive subject matter. It's simply impossible to condense something that switches between aggressive punk with scream vocals and twangy folk-country and anthemic pop while discussing the implications of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines and its implications on the gender identity of the main character into a neat 3 minute track. Also you may have just read the previous sentence and went “Excuse me, what?”, and that’s definitely a reasonable reaction. Let me let April herself to explain via her words in an interview via Paste Magazine:
“I’m Filipino and, pre-Spanish colonization, there was this third gender where there were a lot of people born male and presenting as female, and they had this shamanistic [presence]. They would help other people interact with the spirit world. When the Spanish came over, it slowly got phased out. And now all my relatives are Catholic.
[“Geez louise”] was my reckoning with all the emotions that come with this. That’s why it’s so all over the place and frenetic. And that’s why I got my friend henhouse! on it, because we share the same Venn diagram.
When I was writing this album, I knew there needed to be a trans character. In anything I do, there’s probably going to be a trans character in it. There’s some things I can’t really look at without the intersectionality of being trans and its connection to it.”
Essentially, the song is about S*nny discussing all of this with another girl named Jordan, and its effects on S*nny’s previously unwavering faith. “People like us were among the divine until the cops arrived” is a favorite line of mine. Something about likening the Spanish colonizers to “the cops” is profoundly funny, but also poetic and accurate.
Track 10 - “Seventyseven dog years”
In this song, another somewhat glitchy acoustic ballad with the occasional “Pony up, motherfucker!” played in the background, Mara comes clean to S*nny. She admits everything she did to stalk her, and genuinely wishes her a good life. This shows Mara growing as a person, and finally learning to have some respect for other people. Overall, this song is one of the more straightforward on the album, but still thoroughly enjoyable. “Oh my God, I hadn't evеn knew” is a line I always like the delivery of, S*nny’s shock upon finding out that Mara’s father was actually Joshua Domingo, the man who embezzled money from Wallsocket’s deceased to pay for his meth addiction.
Track 11 - “Uncanny long arms (with Jane Remover)”
An anthemic pop song that makes liberal use of April’s glitchy production and feedback-loop instrumentals, this song features hyperpop juggernaut Jane Remover. In it, Mara wakes up and looks in the mirror, noticing that her arms are longer than usual, a metaphor for her over-reach into S*nny’s life. During a procedure that is possible due to some lore reasons that I AM NOT GOING TO GET INTO DUE TO ME NOT BEING ALL THE WELL VERSED IN THE WALLSOCKET LORE, Mara is able to get her arms surgically reduced. “And I had this crazy feeling that nothing was out of reach anymore. “And I had a terrible feeling I could touch you from over here”, sung by Jane Remover, touches on Mara’s situation on two levels. For one, her arms obviously have longer reach, but more importantly, Mara was able to reach parts of S*nny’s life that she was not supposed to by stalking her for so long.
Track 12 - “Good luck final girl”
A simple acoustic ballad with folksy vibes to it, and a nice way to end the album. The “Final Girl” is a trope in horror movies, as the character who lives to tell the gruesome tale. This could be interpreted as a callback to “Horror movie soundtrack.” “Good Luck” is also a mantra repeated throughout the album, tying the album together nicely. In this song, Mara, S*nny, and Old money bitch reach adulthood and decide to part ways. My favorite line has got to be “I'm postponing my suicide indefinitely” from Old money bitch. It’s both tragic and hopeful; the apathy that made Old money bitch want to end her own life has dissipated and been replaced by the grieving she has for her friend that was killed in the army. She now feels like she has a reason to live.
This article is already obscenely long, so I’ll keep the conclusion short. Despite everything I’ve said here, I think the only way to really experience all the themes of the album is to give it a listen yourself. It’s truly worthwhile, as it's a record where you can hear an artist operating at their full potential. underscores serves as a prime example of the possible creative genius of Generation Z. Hopefully we will get more amazing albums like this in the future!
Erik Wilberding
