An occasional series where I talk about the songs I love and why.

Ooooh that “boom-boom-crunk” of “Rill Rill” gets me every time. It takes me back to high school, to freshman year of college. “You’re all alone friend/Pick up the phone then/Ring, ring call them up/Tell them about the new trends.” That line always hits close to home: it talks about how you might be alone, but “they” are just on the other end of the line, ready for a connection…even if it’s as small as talking about the “new trends.”

It’s such a heavy song: Derek Miller’s powerful, static-y guitar riff is layered neatly over those pulsing drums. And yet Alexis Krauss floats so easily over those instrumentals – she’s got light pop vocals that fit her status as a former girl group singer.

And that’s what I love about this song. “Rill Rill” has weight. It speaks to that time in high school/early college when you’re just waiting: maybe you don’t want to be the one picking up the phone all the time. Krauss’s breathy voice sings about how “we form the tarot pack/and I’m aware of that.” She’s as clean and dismissive as any Mean Girls clique, with a guitar wall that forms the weight of high school emotions to back her words.