Ginny & the Fizz - "Just Like Bliss" EP Review
Reviews by: Dan DeMarco, Writer @itsadmiralfox
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, owner/editor @PlaylistTC
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Ginny & the Fizz are a Twin Cities indie rock four-piece featuring a healthy dose of nineties worship, as well as Eric LeBlanc on vocals, Michael Shannon on guitar, Maddie Thies on bass, and Jarod Schiebout on drums. They’re known for their energetic live shows where the boundary between band and audience is immediately dissolved by Eric prancing around with their wireless mic, crooning while dancing with the crowd, as well as on bar tops or hanging from rafters, leaving many (read: me) wondering about their cardio routine and seemingly infinite lung capacity. These rockers perform with a chemistry that only occurs when a band is truly locked in, and their catalog is full of tunes that show off their penchant for taking uncommon rhythms and jazzy, dissonant chord progressions and structuring them into smooth, catchy songs with earnest, personal lyrics and incredible vocal performances. Their latest EP, Just Like Bliss, doles out four stone cold bangers in a row, all of which are sure to become mainstays in this group’s catalog.
The band shows off their mastery of all things rhythm related right away with the first track “SLCKLSTR”, a bombastic opener that’s everything you want from a Ginny song: hyper-melodic guitar chords, unexpected rhythm changes, and an anthemic outro all somehow packed into a four-minute guitar-pop song. Jarod, Maddie, and Michael give such a locked-in performance throughout that you might not even realize how bizarrely the pieces of this tune fit together, and Eric’s vocals navigate these left turns fearlessly with snarled lyrics depicting a fear of burning out and giving in to depressive thoughts. When the band sails into the aforementioned outro with gang vocals crying “Ain’t I worthy?”, it’s a euphoric, dare-I-say blissful start to the EP that sets the stage for the rhythmic and vocal acrobatics to come.
The following track, “Memoirs of a Pipefitter”, is a definite standout. The crunchy, moody chords Michael supplied on the opener have been swapped here for a dreamy guitar line held up perfectly with Maddie’s subdued bass and Jarod’s quiet but busy drum work. Eric’s vocals paint a picture of a hardworking man providing for his family, looking at photos from the past, and reflecting on his choices. The band increases the tension after every line, culminating in an explosion as Eric shouts “That man won’t run away”. This track conjures up a mood of dreary nostalgia so perfectly, and its final cooldown phase might find you contemplating some fuzzy memories from your own past while you stare out a window as Michael’s gentle tremolo guitar fades away and Eric nails that last high note. (Or is that just me?)
Eric’s vocals continue to shine on the title track “Just Like Bliss”, which features a lovely bass introduction from Maddie, over which Eric shows off their upper range, giving us some mournful vocalizations over a steady 3/4 groove. The band then proceeds to fold time and space in order to transition into the gritty meat of the song, a segue that I’ve listened to dozens of times and still can’t make total sense of. They’re so smooth with it! Suddenly we’re plunged into a grungy, sinister, late-nineties pilled hard rock session complete with duelling polyrhythmic guitar lines, heavy kick drums, and slices of feedback. Eric flips effortlessly between choked heavy metal barks and Reznor-esque croons as he implores “Take a hit, feel something”. Just as the mayhem reaches its peak, we’re pushed back out into a reverb-drenched reprise of the intro, with Eric’s wordless vocals sounding as haunted as ever.
The EP ends on an empowering call to action with “Vertigo”. The lyrics tackle the pitfalls of social media, highlighting how its omnipresence amplifies feelings of depression and jealousy, and leads to cognitive dissonance and mass disinformation. The song takes aim at those who worship tech moguls and billionaires with cheeky one-liners like “Elon Musk won’t save you”. The dark chords and tight rhythm section set an amazing stage for this dystopian message, and the piece ends with a foreboding warning for those in control: “Now’s the start of your downfall”.
This EP can get dark, haunted, and complex, but it’s also well-written, very well-performed, and just so much fun to hear. It’s hard to listen to this thing and not picture the band having a ball playing these songs, despite their heavy subject matter. This project is a valuable reminder that music is fun, even when you’re playing something complex or off the beaten path, even when you’re singing about depression and the end of the world. With Just Like Bliss, Ginny & the Fizz continue to write catchy rock songs by their own rules.
