• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Mar 21, 2025 Web Exclusive By Mark Moody

Pictoria Vark’s (aka Victoria Park) debut album, 2022’s The Parts I Dread, dealt with Park finding her place in the world. Three years on, Nothing Sticks dives deeper into relationships and battling one’s own psyche. A bassist by trade, Park hasn’t always been in control of her own destiny. The pulsing pop of “I Pushed It Down,” though mainly oblique, puts it best: “Trying to make it in those bands, waiting for someone to understand.” The song starts on spindly legs, mimicking uncertain thoughts, but as with many of the songs on the album strings or other instrumentation help to flesh out a more certain melody.

The best of these moments comes on “San Diego,” which recalls a dire moment of personal crisis. An inveterate walker, Park’s cadence here beautifully sculpts the arc from tentative first steps to a steady march on par with the psychological certainty of Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.” With a nod to a personal hero, Anthony Bourdain, towards the end of the song Park proclaims, “In San Diego, I’m wherever I go,” with an “I am what I am” swagger that fills the heart. Though the odds are stacked against “San Diego” making the top of the pop charts, for the discerning listener it’s an early year blue ribbon winner.

The opening track, “Sara,” along with later ones such as “Where It Began” and the downright doomy “Lucky Superstar,” get Park out of her own head and exploring relationships with others. Park’s lyrics are sometimes openly frank and other times poetically close to the vest, but what is always clear is the depth of her sincerity. Though the field of emotionally laden, confessional indie rock is a thick one, Park’s dynamic manages to be a bit different. Reservedly honest, the sentiment that rises to the top across both of Park’s albums is that the listener ends up pulling hard for a real-life happy ending. Rather than wallowing in self-pity or pointing fingers, Park is right there with you hoping for her own best outcome. An utterly charming approach to life and music. (www.victoriaparkbass.com)

Author rating: 7/10