SXSW Music Review: Soccer Mommy

Following a hushed sophomore roundup of re-recorded tracks on 2017’s Collection, Nashville-reared Sophie Allison emerges raw and pronounced with unhindered heartache on the Fat Possum-pressed Clean, previewed Friday night outside at Cheer Up Charlies.

Her bite-sized, five-song performance proved perfect for the filled-out AdHoc showcase, delivering a concise and emotionally convincing 25 minutes of Allison’s introspective indie rock. Settling in with older track “Henry,” the singer then launched gritty, seething standout Clean single “Your Dog.”

The quartet continued with a breezy rendition of bouncy Sixties take “Last Girl.” Elegant and intentional on her metallic, star-accented Fender guitar, the songwriter let her vulnerable, weighted lyrics do the talking. An amp-leaping second guitarist added exclamation marks.

On sunny track “Cool,” the 20-year-old dreamt up a man-eating, stoner-girl alter ego. Downtrodden in the sugary chorus, she breathily admits, “I wanna be that cool.”

Subsequently, the naturally aloof performer hinted this was “maybe the most fun show of the day.” Teasing the audience’s gold star, she added, “I don’t know.” Allison later blankly urged onlookers to search Soccer Mommy on their preferred streaming service.

“It will be cool,” she deadpanned pleasantly. “I’ll get like an eighth of a cent, but if you all do it, I’ll get, like, $10.”

She wound up her vocal chops for ethereal band dropouts on final selection “Scorpio Rising,” its blasted ending of twisted riffs leaving her hammy guitarist on the floor with the frontwoman looking on in amusement. By then, there was no question. Sophie Allison is that cool.