Japanese Breakfast, Ought

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Joyce Jude

Japanese Breakfast: Michelle Zauner.

Like many punks, Michelle Zauner needed to evolve beyond the genre to really find her niche. Her work with Philly emo kids Little Big League was promising and showed her deft touch as a songwriter. But as Japanese Breakfast (or "JBrekkie," as Zauner prefers to call it on social media), the 29 year old plays a dreamy brand of indie pop that seems to roll out of her effortlessly. Soft Sounds from Another Planet, from 2017, is tender and atmospheric, showcasing Zauner's constant evolution as a musician. Concrete evidence is transforming Little Big League’s "Boyish" from relatively straightforward pop punk into a twinkling, Cranberries-esque ballad. Time to get on the JBrekkie bandwagon, folks.

Get there early to catch opener Ought; the four-piece post-punks came out of Quebec’s waves of student radicalism with a guitar-driven D.I.Y. ethos that powered their philosophical and droning rock ‘n’ roll, reminiscent of early Talking Heads. After jumping in 2017 to Merge Records, the band’s Room Inside the World featured grand compositional gestures, including a full backing choir and eerie wind instruments. With this melancholic turn from their earlier optimism, Tim Darcy’s unorthodox, growling vocal performance takes on a righteous tone, especially when seen live.

$15.

press release: Japanese Breakfast has released a video for "Boyish," one of the highlights from her critically acclaimed 2017 album, Soft Sounds From Another Planet. Upon the single's release Pitchfork called it "a profound example of how Michelle Zauner has grown since her solo project's beginnings."

Michelle Zauner, who also directed the video, says "The video for Boyish was always sort of our magnum opus for Soft Sounds. I think it took Adam Kolodny and I working on so many videos together to prepare for the enormity of a school dance--lighting and decorating such a large space, casting and dressing so many extras. The song is about insecurity, particularly what it's like to love someone who isn't physically attracted to you. It's an old song, the meaning of which has transformed for me over time, but it has always been about a tension and rejection perfectly encompassed by a school dance. I did not attend my own senior prom, so it was the perfect opportunity to bring my own vision of a gorgeous, space dance to life."