After several years playing in different bands across New York’s punk scene, Caitlin Starr has gradually shaped a project of her own, where grunge, punk and pop melody come together with remarkable ease. Pass Me By, taken from her second EP, Speed Saves, captures that balance particularly well.
The guitars sound raw and heavy, but the song never loses sight of its melodic core. The bass plays a prominent role, driving a track that steers away from grunge at its most explosive and instead holds on to a tension that never quite breaks. “Pass Me By” combines the weight of the genre with a clear, immediate melody, while a melancholic mood hangs over the whole song.
That balance brings to mind The Breeders, particularly “Do You Love Me Now?”, as well as Kurt Cobain’s instinct for finding pop melodies within noise. Caitlin’s voice is the heart of the track and the thread that holds it together. At times it sounds clear and light; elsewhere, she drags out the words with a roughness that recalls Louise Post (Veruca Salt) or Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses). The sadness is always there, but she keeps it in the background.
The video takes that feeling of being constantly in motion without ever really getting anywhere and places it on the streets of New York. Caitlin skates through the city, along almost empty avenues and past familiar-looking places, but without any clear destination. There is movement throughout, yet the images suggest someone going round in circles while life continues around her. The video fades to black as she repeats, “It’s okay, I’ve got nowhere to be”, as though the whole journey has ultimately brought her back to the same place.
With “Pass Me By”, Caitlin Starr makes it clear that she has no intention of being overlooked.
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