Photos and article by Erik Casarez.
Girlpop has really made a comeback over the last year. With the success of Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, and the resurgence of Charli XCX, newer female artists have really found their footing on the pop charts. This isn’t to discount the likes of iconic standbys like Beyonce, Taylor Swift, or Lady Gaga, who have been thriving as of late, but this newer class of female pop artists is making waves. The indie side of things is kicking with some tremendous female talent as well with the boygenius crew, the Haim sisters, and acts like Japanese Breakfast all making mainstream waves. A band that really should be in this conversation is Pom Pom Squad, who played an energetic set on March 24 at the Parish.
Brooklyn’s Pom Pom Squad manages to combine elements of dreampop, singer-songwriter, and traditional punk into a tight-knit package that is as endearing as it is explosive. The live show transitions between the types of songs you want to pogo along with to the types of songs that make you reminisce about heartbreaking times in your life. There is an overwhelming sense of earnestness in their performance as lead singer/main songwriter Mia Berrin pours her heart out with such vulnerability that you can’t help but root for her as the protagonist in every song.
They invited fellow queer artist Caroline Kingsbury to open up the show. Between her electropop stylings and Jem-inspired makeup/outfit, I couldn’t help but feel like this is what it may have been like to watch early Madonna playing local shows. Complete with a laptop, guitar, and a drummer (and a pink cowgirl hat she said she bought at Buc-ee’s), Kingsbury started out the show perfectly, finding the line between dancing and thrashing while also establishing this show as a safe space celebrating LGBTQ culture for everybody.
Pom Pom Squad took the baton and put the show into overdrive with their performance. Speeding through songs off their latest album Mirror Starts Moving Without Me and favorites off of their first studio release Death of a Cheerleader, maintaining a similar vibe as the sound travels through different genre inspirations. Guitarist Alex Mercuri shreds through solos and riffs that border on classic arena rock as Mia belts ballads of yearning and songs of catharsis. Always having fun with covers, the band also tore into a regular favorite of “Crimson and Clover” made famous by Joan Jett, as well as “Black Sheep” by Metric, famously covered by Brie Larson for the movie “Scott Pilgrim vs The World.”
Both bands packed enough punch in the show that left everybody satisfied within the three-and-a-half-hour showtime. With a strong setlist and high-octane live performance, it only makes sense that Pom Pom Squad should be talked about so much more in this new popscape.
