Popdust – January 2021
Founded by singer/guitarist Johanna Healy and singer/bassist Ashley Kossakowski, Brooklyn band Groupie create fiery post-punk informed by their favorite riot grrrl bands as well as the written work of Patti Smith. Their debut album Ephemeral is “about the ephemerality of teenage idols and, as an adult, questioning what they truly meant to you,” as Kossakowski explained in a recent essay for Talkhouse. The album tackles these topics of adoring distant heroes — “Who do ya think you’re looking up to / With that I don’t give a fuck attitude?” goes the chorus of “Thick As Glue” — but intersperses those moments of rage with quieter solitude: “Industry,” inspired by buying flowers to fend off depression, laments on capitalism’s role in daily life, while “Daleko” is a gutting ode to faraway family and feeling disconnected from your roots in another country.
