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Jan 05, 2021 By Caleb Campbell Kelly Duplex

New Orleans power pop trio Kelly Duplex have debuted their newest single, “Shreveport,” premiering with Under the Radar. After first starting as a home recording project for singer/songwriter Shane Avrard, the project filled out with drummer Dreux LeBourgeois and bassist Kenny Murphy on the band’s debut EP Hoverround. With the band’s debut self-titled LP, Kelly Duplex develops their style into an addictive 1990s power pop pastiche, recalling the heyday of the hooky style of The Rentals or Weezer.

“Shreveport,” the second single from the band, is another sharp piece of guitar pop, finding a middle ground between fervent energy and catchy melodies. The track alternates between a ripping punk-tinged instrumental and a measured power-chord-driven stomp. The tempo shifts create a rollercoaster rush to the song, first barrelling forward with unrelenting force, then pulling back. All of it is anchored by Avarad’s buoyant vocals, adding a fresh pop sheen to the track. In addition to the lively instrumental, “Shreveport” also acts as a frustrated meditation on the burden of loss. There’s an introspective core to the lyrics as Avarad watches the toll an unexpected loss has taken on the song’s subject, offering an empathetic undertone to the track’s fiery energy.

Avarad says of the song, “‘Shreveport’ is an examination of unexpected loss and how we carry it as an unshareable weight for (what seems like) an endless amount of time- falling into the hindsight trap of feeling that we should have seen the unexpected as an inevitability. It’s about the pieces of ourselves we choose to shed for better or worse and accepting that as a form of loss as well. Reflecting on the shared losses that can come to define our relationships and the vulnerability of navigating a path forwards when what we want to avoid is the thing we’re reactively trying to carry alone.” Listen to the song below and watch for Kelly Duplex’s full length debut, coming February 12 via Strange Daisy.