The opening chunky guitar notes of “Sweetest Song” from Poppy Patica just scream out 90’s garage rock. There’s something just so satisfying about a fuzzed-out grungy guitar accompanied by an unconcerned vocalist. Building on the foundation Malkmus and Pavement created, a band like Poppy Patica has made a home with an inventive and tight rhythmic play within the band and pop-forward songwriting in just enough space for the melody to stick with you long after the song has ended.
“I wrote Sweetest Song in August of 2018 at a house in the mountains in upstate New York. I had just gotten back from traveling and booking music remotely for the better part of a year. Some friends and I rented this house in the woods for the month to write and record music. Other friends would come visit the house for a weekend and we would record their songs too. I remember one evening thinking: of all my past loves, who is the person that I want to share my song with at the end of the day? Who do I still care for?”
“The song then goes back in time and describes the period before my trip when I was hoping someone would come into my life and make all my concerns about my hometown disappear. I was hoping for a love that would melt away my worries about the changes happening in DC. Someone who could be a breath of fresh air in a city that felt stale to me. I wanted to see the city through someone else’s eyes, someone whose eyes weren’t as jaded about DC as mine. Someone who could make the city “sweeter than cherry pie.” The song also kind of conflates the desire to find the perfect lover with the desire to find the perfect city.”
