Birthday Girl - “Rupert!”

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 2

Pairs Well With…Bully, Hole, Charly Bliss 

Balancing a grimy atmosphere with punk-pop hooks, Brooklyn’s Birthday Girl finds a a zone both noisy and catchy on a string of singles since their 2020 debut Roxy. The fuzziness of their guitar, vocal, and drum sounds subverts the core of Birthday Girl’s sound. Influenced by grunge modes, Birthday Girl is both driving and slyly nonchalant on songs like “Rupert!” and “anymore”. Latest track “Honey Locust” finds a slower space, echoes and shoegaze transparency being the hallmark of this left-turn single. Relatively unknown (look out for another Birthday Girl band that is not the women-led quartet we are talking about here), Birthday Girl are a good pick for an energetic kick at SXSW that is willing to deviate for a surprisingly well-rounded sound coming from a garage rock foundation. (Kevin McStravick)