Sarah Tudzin’s illuminati hotties lean harder on the tender in tenderpunk lately, but it’s reflective of the emotional maturity gained and vulnerable place she’s occupying now.
Release date: August 23, 2024 | Snack Shack Tracks/Hopeless Records | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Stream/Purchase
This is my first time writing about illuminati hotties. I first found them through my pal and former EIN writer Faisal reviewing their sophomore album/mixtape, FREE I.H: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For, a smart, spiteful path out of a weird label contract with Tiny Engines that I can’t quite remember the full details of, suffice it to say for a ‘throwaway’ project with ulterior motives, it was exemplary. Exemplary of band leader Sarah Tudzin’s writing and fiery energy, a newer direction for punk to lean into (dubbed ‘tenderpunk’ which is fitting), and really just indie music as a whole as was and still is being made evident by other artists like Kero Kero Bonito (mostly their Time ‘n’ Place album), beabadoobee, Soccer Mommy, and Mitski even though I’ve never really connected with her stuff much.
Funny thing is, and bad news for me, that was the last time illuminati hotties really toyed with that edgier sound. The ‘tender’ in their tenderpunk was always apparent from their first album, Kiss Yr Frenemies, and FREE I.H certainly had its share of delicate moments, but they were loaded up in abundance on Let Me Do One More, their last LP, so much that it deterred me from reviewing it on release. That approach isn’t changing with POWER which leads me to appreciate the other aspects of illuminati hotties more and really feel what Tudzin’s going through, hence why I’m even writing this review in the first place.
Going over the music alone doesn’t quite do it justice. Sure, you can enjoy it in the vacuum you put it in, but it helps to see the apparent journey that its songwriter has been on. Songs on POWER deal with personal growth, compromise, love, realizing when someone or something isn’t good for you anymore, and humbling yourself. IRL, Tudzin married her partner and fellow writer/musician Maddie Ross last year and while I never really got the sense that Tudzin wishes to be specifically referred to as a queer artist, it’s still something that greatly informs songs like “Falling In Love With Somebody Better” and “Sleeping In”. It’s her life, and her life spills over into POWER in a very relatable way.
But if you insist, let’s talk about the music! There’s a few songs that seat stronger melodies and instrumentation up front like I like. “What’s The Fuzz” is good with that, has that classic IH energy similar to “melatonezone” from FREE I.H, but one of my favorites in this vein has to be “Falling In Love With Somebody Better” which is just across the board one of the best tracks on POWER. It’s super catchy and I love the reflective, intimate themes with Sarah appreciating a former partner while still acknowledging that she’s moved onto someone better for her. So many love songs about exes are either concerningly longing and obsessive or bitter in the ‘crazy ex’ sense – it’s nice to see a wholesome song that’s somewhere in the middle and I love the lines ‘I wish that you could meet her‘ and ‘if you weren’t a man, I’d introduce ya‘ which just goes to show she only wants everyone around her to be happy as she is.
“The L” and “Sleeping In” get deeper into relationship dynamics, the former using big drums to help drive its point of taking the L and accountability for the purpose of moving on together. The chorus of ‘okay okay okay/I love you more today/Forget the things I said/I’ll take the L instead‘ is indicative of an emotional maturity some of us could stand to learn, just as the first verse is with acknowledging that, sometimes, we’re just moody, and acts as a shoutout for the partners that know this and how to navigate it with patience and care to turn us around. “Sleeping In” is just cute, a vignette of life with someone special, coexisting and compromising with the one you love and finding joy in the little moments you spend together, even if they clash with what you’re used to doing on your own.
POWER just feels brightly mature without sacrificing the whimsy of life. It’s grown, but retains a child-like wonder with the simple pleasures of other people and yourself. Slower, more vibrant tracks like “Rot” or the title track just feel like another type of emotional exploration of Tudzin and her pals, not a neutered expression that betrays the punk ethos. Though we’re far away from the embiggened and tense vigor of songs like “WATTBL” and “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA”, or the more explorative combinations of sound like on “content//bedtime”, that’s okay because sometimes the most punk thing you can do is feel, be vulnerable, and live in spite of whatever wants you gone. I get the sense that Sarah’s more about being introspective and exploring that in different layers as she sees fit. And really, maybe those older songs and projects were more indicative of a chaos that was once prominent in her life between the stress with her last label and any other personal tribulations I’m blissfully unaware of because I lack knowledge and the desire to develop and maintain a parasocial relationship to artists these days (some of y’all need to take notes). I digress.
Tudzin’s in a different place now and as such, she’s showing us a different her lately through illuminati hotties. It’s nice, simple, mostly clean, but still clouded with the complexity of human emotional and relationships. This is a boon to the music – she’s obviously honed her songwriting over the years in addition to building her repertoire as a producer and engineer for the likes of Weyes Blood, Pom Pom Squad, and boygenius. Through all that, she’s grown and POWER is a direct reflection of that. It may not be exactly what I want, but perhaps it’s exactly what she needed to make as part of her process. Sometimes being in on that as a listener can be more valuable than hearing something more sonically appealing. It’s the kind of stuff that will make me check out anything she works on at least a few times.
Artist photo by Shervin Lainez
