PIP BLOM
Paycheck
(Persona Non Grata)
To hear some people tell it, rock is dead. Yet somehow, promising young musicians keep cropping up. One such person is Pip Blom of Amsterdam, who began her career by writing a bunch of songs in her room. Those first few releases, in 2016, were all breezy pop-rock constructions that landed somewhere between Courtney Barnett and Kate Nash—buoyant, but not very revolutionary. Paycheck is something else entirely. Backed by a full band and armed with a newfound wistfulness, Blom cranks up the vocal distortion and plows through four tracks of sinewy alt-rock. Shrugging off some of the cheeriness in favor of Brit-pop sardonicism serves Blom and co. well. Paycheck is a rewarding listen. What’s that you were saying about death? (4/5)
By Sam Chapman
Paycheck was released on October 5
This article originally appeared in the October/November 2018 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!
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