Most of us met Rivkah Reyes when she was ten, holding down the bass as Katie in School of Rock. She’s spent the years since acting, making films, and doing musical comedy with Second City in Chicago, but music has always been the thread running through all of it. Her new EP, Fan Favorite, out today, is where she finally takes center stage. It’s six songs of sapphic, bratty, emo-leaning grunge pop about almost-relationships, desire, and the messy work of figuring out who you are when everyone already thinks they know.
“Menace” is a strong opener. Reyes’s vocals sit right at the front over a laid-back rock sound, and she gets straight to the point: “you make me a menace to society.” It sets up the whole EP, where wanting someone is a kind of relapse and she’s well aware she’s going back for more. Next is “Katie,” which opens on strings and is the emotional center of the EP. Reyes calls it “a love letter to my younger self,” and you can hear her working through the pressure to get everything right and not say too much, which is a feeling anyone who grew up a perfectionist will know.
“Ugly Cry” is the most classic pop rock song on the record. It’s built around a chant-along bridge that’s going to be a lot of fun live, and its music video features colorful makeup by comedian and poet Brooke Finegold. “Debt Collector” goes in a rawer, more DIY direction, with Reyes pushing into her higher register as harmonies stack up behind her. Then comes the line that got me: “they upped my medication, look I’m better.” It’s delivered so matter-of-factly that it lands as both a joke and a confession, which might be the most relatable moment on the whole EP.
“Loopholes” has my favorite intro on the project. The beat keeps everything moving, the chorus is so hooky, and it arrives with a new music video, which is lo-fi video footage of Rivkah on the subway.
The EP closes with “Miss Congeniality,” which opens with a very ’90s, Cranberries-like feel and brings her love of Mazzy Star and Hole to the surface. It’s a full-circle moment. “Katie” is about a kid learning to get everything right, and “Miss Congeniality” is the grown-up version of that kid still chasing perfection and still trying to be the one everybody likes. On an EP called Fan Favorite, ending on the cost of being liked feels like exactly the point.
“Fan Favorite” is hopefully just the beginning for Rivkah. If, like me, you’ve been to one of the queer line dancing nights Reyes hosts in Brooklyn, you already know she’s a performer to her core, and she’s said her live shows are part stand-up set, part dance party. You can see for yourself on her record release run, starting with Sultan Room in New York tonight (release night!), then Peppermint Club in Los Angeles on November 12, and Empty Bottle in Chicago on November 24.
Fan Favorite is out now.
EP artwork by Shelly Guidera
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