Troublemaker is an album with a little something for everyone, with sprinkles of punk riffs, heavy tones, and unique instrumentation in a primarily indie-focused sound. Combining all of the best parts of girly-pop vocals, Mac Demarco bossanova inspiration, and some midwest emo lyricism, Katy and the Null Sets have come out swinging for the Portland, Oregon fences with the release of their debut album.
It’s hard to place Troublemaker into a genre. There’s a fusion of extensive inspiration coming through their sound. Placing them into the indie genre would be a little bit diminishing of the unique qualities that they showcase throughout this album.
The track “Pool” starts out with a very staple indie-esque Alice Phoebe Lou sound but quickly morphs into a chorus carried by a heavy bass line accompanied with a jazz drum beat and amazing use of emo songwriting with complementing vocal effects, and then it’s back to indie.
The interlude “hhhhhh” is an exceptional segue that brings a welcome change of pace and insight into vocalist Katy Ohsiek’s self-deprecating thoughts and feelings. This song is, above all else, emo.
The following track, “Chlorine,” is a continuation of this pace and almost plays out as a resolution to the interlud, like Ohsiek is finally turning the corner of an inner struggle and finding self-love once again.
I found myself enjoying the songs with the lower streaming numbers compared to the more popular tracks. I don’t typically venture too closely to the indie genre and I found that the most popular songs are sitting comfortably within indie constraints, while the lesser-known songs are pushing the envelope more. I eventually began to enjoy even the songs I wouldn’t typically listen to and found myself just listening to the album front to back, multiple times.”
To me, this is as close to a 5/5 that you can get. Troublemaker is a fantastic debut album from Katy and the Null Sets.