Wallice - Off The Rails

Listening to ‘Off The Rails’, there’s little surprise Wallice is as buzzy as she is. The Californian singer-songwriter pens witty, confessional bedroom pop that takes melodic cues from the ‘50s and delivers even the most cutting one-liner in a sugary sweet way. How very 2021. “I heard you’re pretty good at drums / I think that’s pretty cool,” opens ‘Hey Michael’, a track with a chorus that doubles as a smorgasbord of pop culture references (she somehow rhymes the titular Michael with “American Psycho”). “But if you try and fuck my pretty friend / I’ll push you in the pool.” ‘23’, meanwhile has the then 22-year-old Wallice daydreaming that life will somehow shift gears once she hits her next birthday (“Maybe I’ll get married soon / And buy a house with three bedrooms / And settle down and get a dog / And make my partner get a job”). ‘Off The Rails’ is an astute snapshot of early 20-something life, and a promising enough start for Wallice.