Previewed over the past several months by way of their acclaimed singles “I Just Needed You To Know” and “Honey,” Swedish band Girl Scout have released their third EP Headache. Joining forces with producer Alex Farrar (MJ Lenderman, Snail Mail), the project sees the four-piece leveling up and filling out the layers of their prismatic indie rock songwriting. It’s a collection of five tracks centered around the feelings that make your head seem like it might explode. The hate, hurt, guilt, and frustration that can come at life’s most random moments, the weird feeling in the pit of your stomach that you wake up with for no reason at all – and the resistance to taking it all too seriously.
This duality is on full display in their third and final single “I’m So Sorry,” a track that builds into a cathartic finale as lead singer Emma Jansson simultaneously apologizes on-repeat while letting loose guttural howls in the EP’s final moments.
“Headache is AAAAAAAAH!!!!!!,” says Emma about the full project. “THAT feeling. Straight-up hate and frustration. Feeling hurt and feeling funny about people. Feeling funny about life as a whole. Consider our gears ground. (But in a funny way).”
Beginning with a summer support tour with Alvvays, Girl Scout has kept their foot on the gas this year with the releases of their mammoth power-pop single “‘Honey,” and the ‘90s-alt-rock-inspired “I Just Needed You To Know” – both of which pulled in widespread acclaim from The New York Times, Paste Magazine, Rolling Stone, Consequence, Brooklyn Vegan, Under The Radar, Northern Transmissions, BBC 6Music, BBC Radio One, The Line of Best Fit, Dork, NME and more while landing the band on the cover of Spotify’s Fresh Finds playlist.
Comprised of Emma Jansson (guitar, vocals), Per Lindberg (drums), Viktor Spasov (guitar), and Kevin Hamring (bass), Girl Scout originated as a group of friends studying jazz in Stockholm who connected through a shared penchant for the garage rock and brit-pop sounds of the 80s and 90s. Working with producer Ali Chant (Soccer Mommy, Perfume Genius), the group released their debut EP Real Life Human Garbage in February 2023 and quickly followed it up with their symbiotic sophomore EP Granny Music in fall of the same year. Including standout singles like “Weirdo,” “Boy In Blue,” and “All The Time And Everywhere,” the songs that make up both projects capture the daunting feelings, cringe-worthy moments and social encounters that can play on repeat in your head at night — the sort of experiences that feel infinite in the moment, but can be defined by the people you go through them with.
Photo Credit: Christoffer Zetterlund and Emilia Jagerman
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