TikTok comedy guy Petey USA impressed me with last year's Chris Walla-produced album The Yips and its deluxe addendum. I summed up the sound of that project as "electronic heartland emo," and the description holds true on new single "Kiss The City."
The song arrived in my inbox with comparisons to the Killers and the Wonder Years, and both make sense. Over a foundation of churning guitars, squealing neon keyboard sounds, and programmed drums, Petey sings with gritty gravitas in a way that made Apple Music (the only place I can find this song right now) cue up Noah Kahan when "Kiss The City" was finished. "Every time I turn away I come running right back to it!" he laments — or exults?
"Kiss The City" feels a bit like my 2008 iTunes collapsing in on itself, the Frightened Rabbit getting mixed in with the MGMT. That's a real pleasant sensation for me, and maybe it will be for you too. Listen below.
"Kiss The City" is out now on Revolution Records.
