Porch Light released Under just ahead of their Lollapalooza debut and, honestly, they could hardly have introduced themselves any better. The Minneapolis quintet open with a blast of fuzz and heavy riffs, delivering the mosh pit anthem they set out to make without sacrificing their instinct for melody.
A dirty, insistent riff drives the song as the drums and guitars build a wall of noise around it. There are flashes of the rough, cutting guitars of Wolf Alice‘s “Yuk Foo” and the mix of melody and fury that makes Mannequin Pussy so exciting. Porch Light, however, bring a heavier hard rock groove to the mix, and that is where the song really starts to feel like their own. Rather than racing ahead like a punk track, the riff moves with a slow, cocky Southern rock swagger.
Jackie Uhas holds back in the verses before letting all that anger loose in the chorus. “Wake me up” works as melody, scream and hook all at once. As in Paramore‘s best songs, all the noise and aggression never get in the way of immediacy. The chorus sticks after one listen and makes you want to shout along with her.
The lyrics capture that point when you know a relationship has run its course but still cannot bring yourself to walk away. “I can’t say what’s making me stay so long / But it isn’t you” sums up the exhaustion of a relationship kept alive by little more than habit.
At first, Jackie is stuck in a relationship she knows she needs to leave. By the end, she is no longer waiting for a sign. She sounds ready to walk away, and after one final, full-throated “Wake me up”, it feels like she finally has.
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