Feature by Ellie Garno
Berkley-founded, Brooklyn-based POP ETC have released another track from their second LP, Souvenir (out January 27th in Japan and the 29th worldwide), “What Am I Becoming?” which follows “Running In Circles” and “Bad Break.” Formerly The Morning Benders, players of pop and other things, Chris and Jon Chu and Julian Harmon of POP ETC recently finished touring with Galileo Galilei in Japan and The Wombats and Royal Teeth in the US. The making of Souvenir began during touring for POP ETC, when frontman Chris Chu began writing songs for a TBD record, chasing the muse at his homes in New York and Japan. He attributes the authenticity of the album to recording from home (a makeshift studio nicknamed “Headphone Cave”) as well, the quick turnaround from writing a song to producing and arranging the track.
The result, “What Am I Becoming?” sounds like it could be playing at the club or a 1970s roller rink. One of the last songs completed for Souvenir, Chu also identifies it as one of the strongest. “[“What Am I Becoming]” feels very much like a product of us working at home, following our instincts wherever they took us,” he says. “I think because we were really able to explore each song until it felt 100-percent perfect to all three of us, it feels really natural even though it came together in a fractured way.” The song teems with electronic elements and synapses of synths, but a distorted electric guitar and Chu on vocals are both rock ‘n’ roll. So it seems, POP ETC is as indefinable as they are unpredictable.
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