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Apr 18, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Kennedy Cottrell

Back in 2021, Chicago band OK Cool shared their offbeat and immensely catchy sophomore EP, Surrealist, which we premiered an early single from. Now they’re set to return next week with another new EP, fawn, the latest taste of the duo’s idiosyncratic combination of math rock, emo, and dream pop. The EP is another true DIY effort, with band members Bridget Stiebris and Haley Blomquist writing, self-producing, and playing every instrument as they recorded over the past two years, before ultimately finishing the record with engineers Brad Harvey and John Micensky.

Stiebris explains, “It’s our ode to the demo. There’s not much that changed about the songs from the first draft to the final master, besides the production quality. We even kept all song titles in lowercase, exactly how the demos were saved on my computer.”

The band have already shared the EP’s first two singles, “nissanweekends” and “normal c” and today they’re back with their latest track, “soaked in,” premiering with Under the Radar.

With “soaked in,” OK Cool hits on a pitch-perfect balance of bittersweet melody and magnetic performances, closing out the EP in standout style. Stiebris comes in first, backed by her guitar and layered in echoing effects, before locking in with the drums and Blomquist’s bass. Stiebris and Blomquist show off some impressive musical chemistry together, but they also know when to go out on a limb, with Stiebris diverting into math rock guitar work and Blomquist layering subtly catchy hooks into her basslines. The whole track has a scrappy and disarming feel to it, putting out some dazzling live-wire energy while retaining a longing and wistful undercurrent.

“This song was super fun to write and I think it might be one of the most representative of the project as a whole,” says Stiebris. “It’s got a lot of goofy guitar lines and fun instrumental sections going on, and I get to do a lot of yelling which is always a plus. Lyrically, the song is kind of a larger bittersweet look at my adult life so far - reflecting on the bad and the good, and wondering if it’s still possible to truly find peace/happiness in myself and my relationships.”

Check out the song and video below. The fawn EP is out everywhere next week, on April 28th via Take a Hike Records.