#hot sass

[69bloodymary]

[thebowerypresents]

Liz Cooper Brings New Tunes to Music Hall of Williamsburg

Liz Cooper – Music Hall of Williamsburg – October 9, 2021

At the end of their impressive opening set on Saturday, New Madrid singer Phil McGill asked the Music Hall of Williamsburg crowd: “Y’all ready for Liz?” I don't think he was trying to evoke the original Space Jam theme (“Y’all ready for this?”), but if he had been, the hype was warranted. As her ensuing headlining performance proved to all within earshot, ready or not, Liz Cooper is here. Just like with Hot Sass, released last month, her show kicked off with “Slice of Life,” Cooper singing, “Up to no good, so we all join in,” the first of many full-band rock-outs taking little time to ignite the room, her guitar slung on her shoulder like a cigarette dangling precariously from a lower lip, a curl of sonic smoke constantly emerging from the tip.

The cover of Hot Sass is drenched in a saturated red and the live act has an overwhelming red feel to it. Cooper’s band—Ryan Usher on drums, Joe Bisirri on bass, Chase Johnson on keys and percussion—was almost entirely dressed in red, with a pop of bright lipstick, generously applied. The color has many connotations and associations and the set evoked many of them. “Heart Shaped Candy,” with its dueling lyrics of “Let’s strike a match on gasoline” and “Everything is beautiful today,” begins quiet and moody before finding its heat, a bright-red atomic-fireball candy that’s both sweet and spicy. “Motorcycle,” with its early–Talking Heads groove and grime and “Burning Down the House” drum fills, was the fire-engine red of a sports car zipping down the highway at top speed, while the addictive Beatles dance-rock of “Je T’aime” was the Valentine’s Day red of passion and love.

Cooper and the band picked up steam as they went along, hitting all the vermilion hues they could along the way. A long feedback jam to open “Lucky Charm” had Cooper on her knees fiddling with knobs as the band churned in fury, creating an edgy tension before finally releasing into the song, Cooper crooning, “Are you happy now?” feeling a bit ironic as everyone in the crowd worked their cheeks rosy dancing along. The tail end of the performance featured expertly layered guitar jams in “Getting Closer,” the sweet-and-somber “Shoot the Moon”—which centered on Cooper’s voice before the band entered toward the end—and the guns-a-blazin’ punk-out of the title track. Although the show was confined to the new record, played almost song for song in tracking order, fans were treated to one older tune in the encore, a solo version of “Mountain Man,” the usual rocker feeling like a cowboy song sung in front of a campfire, the audience content to stare into the dancing scarlet flames of Liz Cooper one last time for the night. —A. Stein | @Neddyo

Photo courtesy of @Sashaseesshows.

[lunapaper]

When Liz Cooper said she was gonna paint the town red in her new video for ‘Motorcycle,’ she meant it… ⊙﹏⊙

With psychedelic fuzz and a confident bass strut, the  singer/songwriter hits the streets of New York with her inflated friend in tow as they serve up trippy visuals and plenty of attitude.

What a way to celebrate getting out of lockdown╰(◡‿◡✿╰)

As she explains via press release:

‘This video was made in a spur of the moment creative frenzy in my Brooklyn apartment and across Manhattan. Shot and directed by Jacq Justice, we painted my body to match a doll who represents my alter ego and painted the town red.’

Liz Cooper’s latest album, Hot Sass, is out now.

- Bianca B.

[lunapaper]

It’s weird for someone to give a ‘big fuck you’ to themself...

Delivering some ‘Hot Sass,’ Liz Cooper’s latest single restlessly works through her insecurities in hazy fits and starts, from a fuzzy, psych-rock crawl to a rattling garage-punk chorus to a ponderous glitch halfway through, like the sound of a loud, thrashing animal trying to rid itself of its demons.

‘'Hot Sass’ is a big fuck you to myself. It’s me looking within at the mess I’ve made and then picking up the pieces only to throw them all into my orange furry purse to savour for later.,’ Cooper explains via press release. ‘It’s my alter ego, the outcast and glue of the record. The sound of low lows and high highs and the stillness in between.”

‘Hot Sass’ is from Liz Cooper’s upcoming album of the same name. As she describes:

‘It's me learning about what kind of woman I am and it’s not pretty all the time… I’m still processing these songs. Still reflecting. And I think that’s the thing—Hot Sass is just a stamp in time of what was happening in my life. I just want to continue making art that displays myself, the moments, and the people around me.’

Liz Cooper’s Hot Sass is out September 3 via Thirty Tigers.

- Bianca B.