Paycheck is a dreary post-punk landscape, exploring the mind of 22-year-old Amsterdam-based musician Pip Blom as she navigates life as a young adult. Blom controls every element; creating a clear picture with instrumentation and tone, instead of depending on her lyricism. She’s got a Cobain-esque succinct sensibility, whereby she can say a lot with a little.
Blom uses disengaged melodies to enhance her themes and brings it home with sombre lines like “Times slipping away from me”. ‘Come Home’ uses a detuned guitar riff that repeats like a broken record throughout the song serving to create a desolate terrain flowered by the mantra “Say my name, if you think it’s over”. Her vocals haunt you as the distortion reverbs in true punk fashion. ‘Pussycat’ reeks of grunge rock, bringing the most energy of all the tracks, moving between Blom’s standard tone in the verses to an almost uncharacteristically passionate chorus; as the vocals shout, “You got me working out how did I end up here”.
Paycheck is a fine addition to the genre and marks a notch in the belt of what seems like a rising star with something to say.
