Worry Club
I’m Freaking Out
GOOD LUCK HAVE FUN/BROKE
We’re all quite familiar with the oxymoronic expression “an audience of one”—so who’s gonna stop Worry Club from tweaking the idiom a wee bit? The brainchild of Midwestern bedroom-pop master Chase Walsh has unleashed their debut album, and what makes I’m Freaking Out a winner is that it doesn’t merely represent the grief, anxiety, and sense of hopelessness felt by one person; Walsh is communicating universal truths to which a wide swath of an audience will be able to relate. And that fact perhaps undercuts those of us who still tout him as a “bedroom-pop master”—not to mention how excitably he performs onstage.
Among the new record’s most telling lyrics, the title track sees Walsh declare: “Yeah, I′m freaking out / Again, inside my house / No, it’s not what I want / To be alone all day long.” This sentiment directly contradicts the subgenre that he’ll have tattooed on his career for a long time to come, as bedroom pop artists, by definition, are notoriously isolated, recording on shoddy equipment. Walsh’s admission indicates he actually isn’t content to be alone—he craves human interaction. What makes I’m Freaking Out a beaut in its own right is that the effort appears to be utterly authentic in the true, non-trendy sense of the word. It’s a testament to the still-nascent singer’s expertise that he doesn’t only feel suffocated by the trials and tribulations of romance, but also anxiety and a host of other maladies.
If that sounds heavy, it’s because I’m Freaking Out is exactly that: an exploration into the heart and soul of an artist who, while initially reluctant to self-reflect, knows they have artistic tools to express themselves in ways the vast majority of us cannot. As if they saw this coming, too, Walsh pumps in some humor so as not to completely bum out the listener: “Tina Fey keeps haunting all my dreams / I try to get her out, but I just don’t know how / I feel like Lindsay.” Once Walsh arrives at the point that Fey and Mean Girls costar Lindsay Lohan are no longer one of the sources of his preoccupation, greater and graver matters may come into focus.
