Straightforward rock has been getting another shot at the pop charts lately, and up-and-coming act Pep Rally is looking to take advantage of this in their new single “South Street” this August. With an inelegant beat and melodic trappings that come straight out of the poppier end of the radio dial, there are obviously some familiar elements to behold in “South Street,” but make no mistakes about it – this is as much a dedication to unique qualities in songwriting as it is a gentle homage to the best parts of what makes old school pop-rock intriguing.
The lyric video for this song has a charming simplicity to it that really caught my eye the first time I sat down with it, and its overall lack of indulgence is one of the more sterling elements I noticed when watching it beside some of the other lyric videos out right now. Pep Rally don’t want to dazzle us with external componentry in this piece so much as they want to establish some footing for the lyrical narrative they’re producing, which is more than can be said for many others releasing something similar to this at the moment. Efficiency will score you points everywhere, and this video reminds us of that.
These guitars aren’t stealing anything away from the vocal parts, but they’re enriching the harmonies in a way we wouldn’t have experienced with any other instrumental accent here. Whether it be a piano or an electric guitar, there’s just no replacing the warmth of the acoustic string element in this piece, especially being that it contributes something to the framework of the vocal that more or less puts an exclamation point on everything this singer is trying to tell us lyrically. Top to bottom, this was a well-thought-out composition.
I didn’t know about Pep Rally or their new single before listening to “South Street” this month, but from the looks of what they’re doing in this song, I think it’s safe to say they’re sitting on something very special at the moment. There’s a freewheeling sensibility here that is just begging to be expanded upon, but even if it takes a minute for this crew to get that far, what they’re already able to exploit in this release is exciting enough for those of us who like rock music with a steady pop beat, slick corners, and a slew of verses that come straight from the heart.
