Pop Break Live: Soccer Mommy with Tops on the “Touring, Forever Tur” at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, California on Tuesday December 13, 2022
The weather is getting colder in Los Angeles, the holidays are approaching, and the only antidote to the winter blues is some dreamy pop music. As if she heard the siren song from the City of Angels, Sophia Allison aka Soccer Mommy descended upon the Wiltern in promotion of her 2022 record, Sometimes, Forever. Canadian indie pop rockers Tops opened the show as a perfect sonic pairing to Soccer Mommy, and it was certainly a dreamy and moody night.
Tops, led by singer and flutist Jane Penny, came on the scene just over 10 years ago with the much-beloved album Tender Opposites. Their soft, synthy sound paired with Penny’s light and airy vocals feels reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac tracks sung by someone from boygenius who’s in a much better mood. The band’s newest EP Empty Seats features some of their danciest lo-fi tracks yet, including “Janet Planet,” which Tops played at the Wiltern. “Perfected Steps” was another highlight of the night, combining throwback sounds a la Steely Dan and a hint of the Eagles alongside Penny’s delicate Soprano. Fans of artists like Tennis and, fittingly, Soccer Mommy, will find much solace in Tops. If nothing else, who doesn’t love to see a flute come out during a live show?
After Tops kicked off the perfect tone for the night, Soccer Mommy took the stage beneath huge light-up rain clouds as Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” came through the speakers. Sophia Allison, a known Avril Lavinge fan, is a unique Gen Z singer-songwriter in that she first found fame on Bandcamp when she was still a teenager, and values a sound that predates her birth. Opening with the track “Bones” from her most recent record, 25-year-old Allison conjures up Juliana Hatfield or Alanis Morissette with a 90’s-tinged, alternative edge that sounds both nostalgic and fresh. “Circle The Drain” – a track from 2020’s “Color Theory” – takes on such a full-bodied presence live, and continues to tap into that 90’s resonance; even the music video for it looks like a home movie shot on video tape from 1996.
In a move that feels both bold and risky in today’s terms, Soccer Mommy’s set was heavily favored to the new record; in fact, Allison performed every track from Sometimes, Forever save for one. It was a risk that paid off in the end and proved that Soccer Mommy isn’t interested in resting on the laurels that made them a teen prodigy in the indie pop world; everything about this artist is about growing and progressing in both sound and sentiment. The infectious earworm that is “Shotgun” is a great example of that with its catchy chorus, synth loops, and surf rock-esque guitar riffs. The guitar work in “With U” that feels reminiscent of Radiohead’s work on The Bends is another head-turning moment that pays off both on the record and live.
The darker and heavier songs that pop up on Sometimes, Forever like the Incubus-sounding “Unholy Affliction” and “Darkness Forever” were given even more life in a live environment. Moody stage lighting and pastel-colored amoeba-like shapes projecting on the backstage of the stage set the perfect tone as Allison played guitar in the foreground amongst her bandmates Julian Powell, Kelton Young, and Thomas Borelli. It’s clear in the best way possible the effect Sometimes, Forever’s producer has had on Soccer Mommy’s sound. Oneohtrix Point Never aka Daniel Lopatin, aka the genius behind the tonal and auric sounds of the Uncut Gems score, allows Allison to lean into heavier experimental moments alongside her familiar plucky guitar riffs, particularly on tracks on “Fire in the Driveway.”
Fans of dreamy pop with an experimental edge certainly found their home at the Wiltern with Soccer Mommy and Tops at the helm. Cynical music fans who might feel worried about Gen Z’s addition to the musical landscape should certainly relax their worries; with artists like Soccer Mommy tackling old sounds in new and edgy ways, it’s clear that indie rock and its future is in good hands.
