Traditionally, 17 minutes is the perfect run time for a thrashy hardcore EP or a single doomy sludge-metal song and…not much else. Chicago duo OK Cool are doing their part to change that, though, with their new EP fawn, which sees each of its eight tracks clocking in on the shorter side yet packing everything necessary for a solid lo-fi rock release—complete with catchy hooks, experimental effects, and on-point It’s Always Sunny sound bytes—into such a tight run time.
“We're not exactly great at writing longer tunes, but I think it’s kind of fun to look at it like vignettes of sorts,” the duo—comprised of Bridget Stiebris and Haley Blomquist—explains. “It’s kind of our ‘ode to the demo’ in that we kept all song titles in lowercase exactly how they were on my computer. There’s also not much that generally changes about the songs from the first draft to the final master besides the production quality.” Considering that first-take, best-take mindset the EP thrives in its most ramshackle moments—when feedback overtakes Midwest-emo noodling, say, or when the placeholder drum machine makes it into the recording’s final version.
Ahead of the project’s official release this Friday, we’ve got an early stream below. Make sure to pre-order fawn here, and if you’re in Chicago you can find OK Cool at Schubas for their release show on May 4—tickets are available here.
