Originally commissioned as the score from the short film The Struggle, Noah LeGrand’s You Sound So Gross Right Now is just that: a brief recollection of the bittersweet trials of young adulthood.  

Heavily informed by 90s alternative, the EP’s sound is one dripping with nostalgia. Raw and seemingly lo-fi, YSSGRN projects a classic indie vibe that immediately takes listeners back to a simpler time. This effect is compounded by the bright, ringing, almost music box-like melodies that dot the EP, recalling a sense of lighthearted innocence to which all listeners can relate.

Listeners shouldn’t be deceived, though- beneath YSSGRN’s pleasant, unassuming guitar jangles lie lyrics dense with emotion. In six short tracks, the EP touches on themes ranging from love and innocence to mutual loneliness and ennui. However, in the world of YSSGRN, the positive and negative are dealt simultaneously and in equal measure.

From the tongue-in-cheek romance of “Pillow Talk, Baby” to the sepia-toned sorrow of “Dr. Doom," LeGrand writes each track as a vignette portraying a unique episode in the paradoxically sweet-and-sour story of young life.  

Though not technically complex, YSSGRN is surprisingly ambitious, especially coming from an artist who is entirely self-taught. A closer listen reveals influences from classic emo to shoegaze to surf rock. Impressively, LeGrand manages to combine these into a sound that is both an amalgamation of the best musical innovations of the 90s and 2000s and something all his own. 
Likewise, the end result is an EP difficult to define. Cheerful, comedic, mellow, melancholy- You Sound So Gross Right Now is sure to resonate with listeners as reminiscent of youth past. 

Header photo by Kylie McLaughlin
Header image design by Shaina Sheaff