I’ve been somewhat caught up in the magic of Liverpool musician Pizzagirl, real name Liam Brown, ever since first hearing his dreamy sound on the John Hughes-esque Highschool back in 2018. Whilst I haven’t written about it, I also went through an extended period of being utterly obsessed with the song Dennis, which has a feeling that nails the intersection of insatiable sexual frustration and lethargy that is, quite simply, chef’s kiss.
The beauty of Pizzagirl is the way Brown manages to combine a production style that feels purposeful and defined without it feeling like it has been sweated over. The sound feels effortless, yet I’m sure it isn’t. What that brings to the music is a sense of honesty. On Dennis, Brown sounds like he has just rounded the corner after bumping into his ex on the arm of another dude. What follows is a stream-of-consciousness — his raw emotions exposed without the polish that is applied when someone is worried about what an audience thinks. It’s not a single, it’s just his feelings… and yet boy, is it a single.
Car Freshener Aftershave comes alongside the announcement of Pizzagirl’s forthcoming album, Softcore Mourn. Whilst the new album doesn’t arrive until mid-July, this new single does plenty to whet my appetite. The usual lo-fi production aesthetic is in place, but applied to a slightly more upbeat and electronic sound. The sound of Car Freshener Aftershave is not a million miles from the post-Wolfgang sound ploughed by Phoenix — electronic but with an organic feeling finish, obtuse and opaque lyrics and just so much mood.
I just love this. There is a moment at two-minutes-fifty where the bass drops out to expose Brown’s earnest vocal before kicking in with even more energy. I guarantee that one day, when Pizzagirl gets to perform this live, people are going to lose their pretty minds to the moment when the bass drops back in at three-minutes-twenty.
Mr Brown, you are a rock star and I salute you.