Frankie Rose used to drum for the noisy New York bands Dum Dum Girls and Vivian Girls before moving to L.A. to pursue her own solo career. Interstellar, her 2012 debut under her own name, shot for the stars, trading her punk roots for sleek, gleaming dream-pop.
A few albums later, Rose found herself still in L.A. but pretty despondent, working a job she hated instead of touring. After a move back to New York, she slowly put together Cage Tropical, the title and album art a pretty explicit nod to her L.A. blues. But Rose still had her eye trained on the sky, crafting soaring songs despite a nonexistent budget.
“Trouble” sounds like a sci-fi version of the Shirelles, alternately cooing and cold. She says that horror movies were a big influence this time around, and you can hear it in the icy “trouble follows you” mantra that sits at the heart of the song. But there’s another side: trouble will always find you; it’s up to you to keep pushing and make art out of the mess.
“Trouble” appears on Cage Tropical, out now via Slumberland. Frankie Rose plays live in our Studio 1A on Wednesday, September 20 at 1 p.m. before playing the Barracuda the same night.
–Art Levy // host, Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., producer, My KUTX
