EP: Sour Widows — Sour Widows
words: erika delagado
A couple years ago, when I was forcing myself to go outside instead of being the sick lil recluse I often fall to, I was asked to read some poems at a touring friend’s show. I was given a momentary purpose. I hadn't really been going to shows as often as I was used to, I felt like I was out of touch. Then I saw Sour Widows for the first time ever. I immediately became enchanted by Maia Sinaiko and Susanna Thomson’s harmonies. They gave off early Girlpool vibes but with two guitars and a tone that was, and still is, a modern remedy to the gritty soft reality of being a depressive non-male. They also had just added their drummer, Max Edelman. They had just become a three piece. We spent the rest of the night complimenting each other while I sent their Bandcamp to all my friends. I have a tendency to do this, I become devoted the second I fall for a band. I kept telling myself that one day I'd write about them.
Sour WIdows’ Maia Sinaiko and Susanna Thomson have been best friends for most of their lives, growing up in the North Bay, and only recently becoming a true Bay Area staple. A band that had just begun to get notoriety from all sectors of the indie, punk, and folk scenes, reminding us that we should be more united, because they are all of that. They are queer, they are punk, they are folk, and they are our indie sweethearts.
Before quarantine I was finally going to write about them, then I went back into the sick lil recluse lifestyle. Well I didn't have a choice, but with that lack of choice came a heavy cloud of depression, and while I couldn't stop laying around listening to their music, I also could not get any words out.
Sour Widows were supposed to be on tour right now, promoting their self-titled EP that feels too conclusive to just be an EP. For me, EP always makes me think it’s just a snippet, a quick teaser. But their self-titled feels more like a well-written thought out novel, than an introduction. Maybe it’s the fact that their songs are longer than the now average 2-minutes, or the fact that you can tell that they are well thought out,, from the guitars, to the bass and drums, to their vocals and lyrics. Even the grit is beautiful, the parts some may call ugly tell more to the story, just like reality. Life is a gritty beautiful endless harmonized story, but, unlike this EP, Sour Widows doesn’t have control over life. The EP hits harder now. It’s not an EP I can listen to just one time through. When I sit down with it, I get stuck listening to it on a loop, always shedding more tears as I get to the last song, “Whole Lotta Nothing.” So now more than ever, I love Sour Widows and I want everyone to love them because they'll make the endless grit more bearable.