You’re back from spring break and, let’s face it, getting back on the grind is proving way harder than you thought. Then you’re crossing on Walnut and a car drives through a puddle and splashes you head on. It hits you: shit like this only happens to you. Now, you’re really feeling down—it’s just you, your endless workload and your wet socks. Even though nobody says this, a certain lo–fi rock singer/songwriter’s proven that this should be a thing: when it rains, write a song about it.
Meet the poster child for the girl who gets splashed on by a bus, Greta Kline, alter ego Ingrid Superstar, alter—alter ego Frankie Cosmos. She’s singing about every feeling you might be feeling, whether it’s about getting old in 'Young', relationships in ‘Sand’ or just dealing with shit when shit happens in 'Buses Splash with Rain'. And with these, you’ve just opened the door to the wonderful, whimsical cosmos of Frankie Cosmos. With releases Zentropy and Fit Me In under her belt and Next Thing due April 1 (!!!) full of her signature honest, minimally produced, less–than–three–minutes–long songs, Kline’s bringing easy listening that doesn’t make her music any less deep or relatable. Each of her microscopic, musical vignettes further proves that there’s a little bit of Frankie Cosmos in us all.
At first glance, you might mistake her for a Viking because she wears pigtail braids sometimes. Look again—that’s just one of many indicators that she’s cooler than you. At just 22, she’s already got way more to her name than your ‘Most Likely to Be Successful’ circa 2013. Greta’s been rocking it since around then, between being the brains and beauty behind Frankie Cosmos and the bassist for boyfriend Aaron Maine’s rising band Porches. As Frankie Cosmos, she’s racked up three (!!!) ‘Best New Track’s from music’s very own bible, Pitchfork. Next Thing has also been tapped for most anticipated albums of 2016, and with Beyoncé on the horizon, that’s got to mean something. Nothing like a little bit of critical acclaim as backup, right?
First, give her a listen, because she is you, no matter how you look at it, meaning you officially have permission to pretend you’re in a band. Next thing: start the countdown for the April 1 listening party I’ve decided to unofficially host. And finally, you now have plans on April 30 at the First Unitarian Church, because reading days are prime time for concerts. And Frankie Cosmos is your best excuse yet. Just maybe don’t take the bus to get there.
Photo by Sam Clarke
