For the second time in a month, Super Cassette blew me away with a new single, leaving no doubt as to why they are one of my all-time favorite bands.
Generally, when a band releases two singles in a month, they are typically pre-release singles intended to build hype for an upcoming album. While Super Cassette claims they are working on another album, they haven’t begun recording, and these singles are not intended to hype an album that is currently only a vague idea. Instead, these are two songs that were written since the release of their debut album, “Continue,” in 2023, and were finished and ready to be released into the world.
While “Hurts, Don’t it?” is some of the absolute best songwriting they have released, and captures the indie vibes that Super Cassette strive for and has a goddamned hella impressive guitar solo, “A Man Was Never One” is much more pop punk in sound, and thrives on being both catchy and deeply personal.
“A Man Was Never One” is the non-binary and trans anthem that was missing throughout most of Pride Month. As they described in a social media post about the song upon its release, the song began as a pep talk to themselves when they were contemplating their gender identity and struggling with thoughts of self-doubt and whether they were queer enough or too queer. Ultimately, they came to the conclusion that there is beauty in ambiguity, and nobody needs to be defined to be whole.
The simple and aggressive pop punk rhythm and pacing of the song fits perfectly as it also exists outside of the defined sound that many may have placed on the indie band, as a fuck you to a pre-described label. Super Casette’s talents and songwriting feel absolutely limitless right now, as these songs are so damn good. If you’ve ever felt conflicted about your gender, or felt like you were obligated to be more manly or more feminine, or just didn’t feel like you fit what others expected from you based on your gender- or fuck, even if you fit the gender you were assigned at birth perfectly, you should go give this track a listen, and then explore the rest of Super Cassette’s catalog. Each song just continues to highlight their talents in new ways.
Written by Gimp Leg
