After inking a deal with the newly launched TODO Records, West Coast garage punks Surfbort announced that their third album Reality Star would see a March 6 release. They teased the release last year with the singles “Lucky” and “USA Cheese,” and today they’re following those playful cuts up with a full-on slacker-grunge anthem called “Jessica’s Changed” that was inspired by guitarist Adam Laidlaw sending vocalist Dani Miller an article alleging that “Jessica” is the new “Karen.”
“I have no clue if I’m an out of touch Millennial, but at the time I wrote this song, I was feeling a little hurt over losing a close friend,” Miller shares with us about the upbeat tune. “Instead of using her name, I was just like, ‘I used to hang with…Jessica, but now she changed.’ It’s not really a diss towards her, but a peaceful goodbye. My Jessica just doesn’t want to hang with me anymore, and I have to mourn that friendship, find the friends that love and understand me, and reciprocate back.”
Inevitably, the song’s angst also stems from the sociopolitical climate it was born from, with the hard-to-miss line “I’m a hot ass bitch in a world gone mad” exemplifying the band’s unique way of processing everything. “Turning off my phone for long periods of time; showing up for friends, family, and the community; taking actions to raise money for people going through tragedy; amplifying voices of people who need help; spreading love and acts of service; connecting with people in person; baking pie; walking in nature; starting dance parties; playing shows for people to release their pent up angst and sadness—[this] is the only way to be hot and find joy in this crazy world, where people have gone completely mad, power hungry, and hate-filled,” Miller adds.
The track’s music video—directed by TODO labelhead Pooneh Ghana—only distorts this real-world message further with a dancing chicken, among other distractions. “Jessica’s transformation into a chicken is for a laugh,” shares Miller, who assures us we needn’t take the video too seriously. “It’s ridiculous, but working with Pooneh, Meesh [Halliday], and Simon [Halliday] at TODO, we always have so much fun coming up with exciting music video ideas… I want the viewer to have fun getting into Surfbort's world of freaks making silly art!”
Enter their freaky world below, and pre-order Reality Star via TODO here.
