mp3: "Seattle Freeze" - Who Is She?
words: Matt Latham
“It’s not Seattle, it’s you.”
The concept of cities having personalities and character is ultimately fascinating. A good part of that is the culture that is generated from within, with much of that owed to music. The city of Seattle has (aside from fictional character Frasier Crane) produced one of the most important genres in music: grunge. There’s enough interest to make Seattle an interesting prospect to visit one day.
“Seattle Freeze” by Seattle supergroup Who Is She? takes the listener on a very brief sojourn to the Emerald City in what initially appears to be a critical take on their hometown. But the song twists the idea of the song-lyrics-poetically-saying-why-a-city-sucks into a massive defense of Seattle.
Interestingly, the concept of the “Seattle Freeze” talks about the idea that Seattleites are unfriendly and that non-natives find it hard to make friends. Who Is She? challenge this, admitting that there’s elements of the city that could look dull to the outsider. But the second verse talks about the people and the social aspect of the city despite its “boring” personality. The chorus of “it’s not Seattle, it’s you” says it all. You can’t blame someone not making friends - it’s probably you.
At 1:28, the song delivers a cheery and catchy song that manages to open up a wider story and theme after a few listens. Like the legacy of the city, this has the distorted guitars and almost-clean vocal delivery of the Seattle sounds of the past - but the punk sheen shines a more positive upbeat spin on things.
Who Is She?'s Seattle Gossip is out 10/6 on Father/Daughter Records.