Review | Liz Cooper – Hot Sass

Label: Thirty Tigers

‘Hot Sass’ is the second album from Brooklyn’s Liz Cooper, a follow up to her 2018 debut ‘Window Flowers’ and it’s got one foot planted firmly in the 60’s. ‘Slice Of Life’ kicks things off with it’s reverb drenched indie pop. With drums that are muted and clipped and a bass line that intertwines with the floating guitar lines, it sets the scene perfectly for Liz Cooper’s sultry vocals.

This theme runs through ‘Hot Sass’ with each track exuding 60’s lounge pop bliss. Not one to settle in a theme though, on tracks like the titular ‘Hot Sass’ it’s a large departure from the previous tracks. Exploding with a flurry of hardcore punk, it slides in to a strutting garage rock track laden in fuzz and attitude. ‘Lucky Charm’ leans more in to the psychedelia with a hypnotic combination of repetitive bass and drums with the now trademark reverb coated guitars. That soon gives way to a driving, poppy verse complete with synth solo which soon builds in to a collision of instruments as they make a wall of noise. ‘Fragile Lips’ is a beautiful track that sees acoustic guitar melding with ethereal noises and sparse piano to create a track that swims around beneath Liz’s gorgeous vocals.

‘Hot Sass’ has a definite theme but at the same time, Liz Cooper isn’t afraid to explore different avenues and experiment a little in her choices. While the most part it is psychedelic lounge pop, wildly distorted guitars and more upbeat drums and bass in places keep the whole record interesting. ‘Hot Sass’ is an introspective release that boasts Liz Cooper‘s ability to experiment yet master her sound.