Stream: Guppy, ‘Texting & Driving’

Kevin Bronson on September 17th, 2023

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Speaking-singing marvels Guppy have a penchant for making you think hard and smile even harder, which is difficult to do when you’ve got your tongue planted firmly in your cheek. Goofy and tenderhearted, grating and great: Like L.A.’s other tart motormouths Cheekface, Guppy manages to be all these things.

Their 2022 album was titled “Big Man Says Slappydoo,” which is full of catchy nuggets that read like errant text messages. They are nothing if not conversation-starters, and 2023 has brought three new singles and one new band member, Kabir Kumar (aka Sun Kin), whose arrival was announced by the collaborative single “I’m in the Band.”

The style-shifting quartet — Julia Lebow, Marc Babcock, Ian Cohen and Kumar — this month released a new single produced by Sarah Tudzin (Illuminati Hotties). “Texting & Driving,” of course, is a no-no, though it makes for a glib discourse. And it ends with a wish we certainly share: “When I die take my texts and delete them.”

||| Stream: “Texting & Driving”