Stephanie and Joe Douglas were making music together for quite a while before they were finally fed up with finding a drummer. Deciding to disband, the pair bought a drum machine and started a new journey under the name Separatr. Embracing change to the fullest, they simultaneously decided to sell their house and belongings to move from Seattle to Asbury Park NJ. Joe began to reimagine rock tracks into moody dark pop, while Stephanie was writing a piano titled, "Directionless." Blending both their strengths, the song soon turned into a pop-punk track which they embraced as the start of their debut EP as Separatr, Queen Ace. Joe is inspired by the Pixies' loud-quiet-loud production formula, where the tracks vary from delicate to fierce, with Stephanie's vocals mirroring this effect howling in one moment and whispering in the next. Her self-satire and vulnerable confident lyricism are poignant throughout the record, particularly in the third track off the record, "Deadstock." The duo explains, "Deadstock is a sly and boisterous song for everyone who's feeling fed up. It's about allowing anyone who is tired of being minimized the agency to exist unharassed. There are so many people who think they have the right to our space, time, attention, and even our bodies. That shouldn't be our problem, but somehow it still is." Let's get into the track.
"Deadstock" begins like an empty house. Stephanie's vocals enter like an eerie breeze while the instrumentation is sparse and gentle. You start to get a taste for the story as she sings, "I think that you're confused/No one invited you...But the floor is mine/You're a prowling passerby." At 0:28 you're hit with the first gust of angst and energy when the full band enters and Stephanie shows us another side of her vocal range. In the next verse, the tension begins back up with the breathy vocals. She opens back up allowing the audience to hear more of the struggle singing, "Why can't you just be cool?/Take it down a few/...I'm icy as a cube/and deeper than you," before they kick it back into high gear. Separatr ends the track with the decisive chorus, "No more I'm not the problem!"
"Deadstock" toggles back and forth between these two personas, showing the dichotomy of a person, taking only so much before being pushed to their breaking point. These lyrics represent a generational message that needed to be shouted for a while. Separatr explains, "This song gives some words to counter the feelings of powerlessness we all fall into sometimes, with a cathartic chorus meant to be shouted by a rowdy crowd in a basement bar."
Video of Separatr's On The MIC performance of one of their Queen Ace tracks, "Obvious"
LONG STORY SHORT: Separatr's "Deadstock" is a prime example of the pair tackling the loud-quiet-loud Pixies formula. "Deadstock" carries the weight of a powerful message, wrapped up as an angsty anthem. You'll identify with it and wish you were in a rowdy basement bar singing along.
Stream "Deadstock" below!
Credits:
Written, performed: Joe Douglas/Stephanie Melvin
Production: Joe Douglas/Evan Rudenjak
Label: Big Hare Records
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