If you’ve seen partygirl’s name before, the word “maximalist” is never far behind. Since bandleader Pagona Kytzidis formed the group in 2021, the kinetic six-piece has amassed a cult following for their relentless, inventive music. Whether you’re attending partygirl’s cathartic, emotional shows or discovering their new music online, you’ll find that the band is equally likely to enter a soaring chorus as they are an earthshaking breakdown. Listen past the pyrotechnics, and you’ll hear the energy of scrappy upstarts with the sharp songwriting to match their brute force strength.
“Madman” is a cinematic highlight from the band’s latest EP, I’m So Charming, I Forgot Who I Was. The single introduces the young band as world-builders, utilizing their poetically vivid songwriting to shape the narrative, while their expressive instrumentation adds dramatic flair. The first element you notice on “Madman” is Kytzidis’s warping vocal range that slyly navigates the psychedelic movement of the arrangement with an air of opera, a touch of chamber pop, and palpable passion. Just as the vocals gently guide you into Partygirl’s world, their world explodes into a jazzy, atmospheric whirlwind of influences that have been whittled down to their purest form, leaving the band with abstract colors to paint their lofty visions. Partygirl sets the tone for their sure-to-be long career with “Madman,” a moving, immersive ballad.
“I first wrote this song at 16, making it the oldest on the record. Although the composition has developed over time, the story remains wholeheartedly and vulnerably true: my high school in Philadelphia was next to Route 309, I did see a girl get hit by a speeding car in its parking lot, and, 6 years later when the third verse was added (which is the only section of the song written later), I did meet a fickle young man for drinks in the middle of Hurricane Ida,” explains Kytzidis. “All this entirely true chaos can double as a swirling metaphor for the dizzying headache and collapsing infrastructure of young adulthood and the soul-shaking fear that the instability may be permanent. It begs the question of what to do and how to change, a question maybe too complicated for a 16-year-old, or a 22-year-old, to answer.”
