Tired: “What were you like in the ’90s?” Wired: “What were you like in the 2000s?” Move over Goo Goo Dolls, here comes a new sonic jolt to soundtrack a social media craze.
It comes from Cherry Bomb, the Los Angeles solo project of MisterWives’ Mandy Lee, who transports us back to a Y2K state of mind with “Digital Girl,” a radiant alt-pop electro anthem that scoffs at our automated and algorithmic world in favor of a simpler time before smart phones, streaming, and everything else that makes us miserable.
“‘Digital Girl’ asks how far are you willing to go for your dreams and at what cost? In this Information Age where the pressures of perfection and an unsustainable quantity over quality are constantly burning out not just artists but everyone who is plugged in, it’s impossible to not romanticize unplugging entirely,” Lee says. “Remembering a time when you could tour without social media to adapting to social media now becoming an algorithmic gatekeeper for musicians while the charts are riddled with AI-generated songs leaves you at a crossroads of having to partake in the systems you hate for the sake of what you love.”
Yeah we feel that. Press play and unplug with “Digital Girl” below, go dust off that broken iPod to feel young and alive again, and revert back to a time when you didn’t want the world to see you, because we knew back then that they wouldn’t understand.