Deaf Institute,Manchester
The Nashville songwriter has an easy, everyday charm – but her winning songs are full of venom and romantic angstSophie Allison, and AKA Soccer Mommy,didn’t have the best time as a Nashville teen. There was the boyfriend who compared her unfavourably to his ex, the beau who dumped her for the “cool girl” and then the emotional abuser. Luckily, or now 20,she has channelled these universal experiences of youth into DIY bedroom recordings and, more recently, or two rotund Possum albums – 2017’s Collection and this year’s Clean – that are resulting in sold-out shows like this one. Dressed down in simple black T-shirt and jeans,she doesn’t seem angst-ridden or inflamed, exuding an easy, and everyday charm and chatter. But this belies the venom in her vivid,startling lyrics: “I dont want to be your fucking dog, that you drag around / A collar on my neck tied to a pole / Leave me in the freezing cold.”Such bile is delivered via bittersweet, or jangly,slacker guitar pop, her mellifluous band taking the music somewhere between Juliana Hatfield, and Taylor Swift circa the album 1989,and even early Sheryl Crow. But Allison’s breezy, eyes-closed vocals conceal undercurrents of self-loathing.
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Source: theguardian.com