With only 107,106 monthly listeners, James Supercave is a relatively small band based in Los Angeles, made up of Joaquin Pastor, Patrick Logothetti, and Andreas Villalobos. Described as “Psych-Rock,” their music is similar to popular artists like Tame Impala and MGMT.
James Supercave have released several singles and Extended Play records. In 2020, when they released their fourth EP, M.O.W.O, the band finally received some attention. On this record, was the song “Poor George,” which is now their most listened to song on Spotify, with over 5 million streams. This song can be interpreted as making a mockery of a character, “George,” and his life. The song follows George and ironically states, “Poor George,” after every line that talks about his painless life. This song was my introduction to James Supercave, but it can’t fully represent the type of music they make.
Their sound covers a wide range of styles, which is prevalent in the song “M.O.W.O,” the namesake of their 2020 EP. “M.O.W.O,” or Money’s the Only Way Out, is an outside perspective of the value money holds in modern society. This is yet another song with an upbeat sound, and haunting lyrics that go unnoticed until further inspection. The backing vocals whisper “money” into your ear, similar to life outside the song. This song also describes the struggles of people who want money, not to satisfy their greed, but because it is their only path to salvation, ie. “the only way out.”
Three years after M.O.W.O, James Supercave finally released a new single, and are touring once more. With the promise of an incoming album, they released the song “CRAZY,” which might have just won over the spot in my heart of my favorite song of theirs. Once again, the group paired maudlin lyrics with an interesting background.
However, this song has a different vibe compared to their usual upbeat feel. The band even acknowledges this with the lyric, “this one isn’t playing at the party,” which reveals that the song is meant to have a slower, more serious tone. My favorite part of the song is the chorus -which may seem basic at first listen- the simplicity has a huge impact on the song . The chorus repeats similar sounding lyrics, “you go, I take the high road” and “you know I’ll keep my eyes closed.”
Partnered with a solid drum beat and beautiful vocals, the chorus becomes an event better experienced with headphones turned to full volume to fully encapsulate the moment. This song is about the longing associated with being in and (potentially) leaving a relationship, which is displayed perfectly with alternating lyrics and vocals. In the first 30 seconds of the song, the line, “so strange to believe that you didn’t feel the same,” is uttered to inform the audience that the singer had a warped perception of the aforementioned relationship, and was therefore led to believe that he was “crazy.”
