Out on enduring San Jose label Asian Man Records, Pacing’s new record PL*NET F*TNESS is an endearing, entertaining record, a mostly lo-fi work undergirded by sharp pop sensibilities.
A distant cousin of that stripped-down, stream-of-consciousness, cute-but-acerbic subgenre that was popular in indie circles in the early 2000s, PL*NET F*TNESS scratches the itch for the confessional and the sardonic in hyperspecific lyrics seemingly pulled from the pages of a suburbanite’s diary. The album is a log of the mundane, delivered in choppy one-off thoughts and memories: parking tickets, airport pick-ups, and the balm of brain-dead reality TV. But it’s not Seinfeldian pablum: Each observation reveals the emotion beneath them, pondering the inherent weirdness of human connection and day-to-day drudgery. Pacing bypasses falling into manic-pixie-dream-girl tropes with a unique wit—one that may actually make you chuckle out loud as you follow her various trains of thought.
Pacing is supporting AJJ at dates throughout the country this year, but will be back in San Jose at the Art Boutiki on September 5 with The Band Cope.
