If there’s one thing Michelle Zauner has consistently proven with each new Little Big League release, it’s that she’s not afraid to call things exactly as she sees them. Earlier this year Little Big League released a split with Ovlov, and on the track “Year Of The Sunhouse” she proved her ability to counter a dismissive antagonist who questions whether she’s still “doing the music thing?” with a self-assured “Well yes, I fucking am!” It’s this kind of fearlessness that spills over into Little Big League’s second full-length–and first for Boston’s Run For Cover Records–Tropical Jinx.
The A.V. Club is streaming Tropical Jinx in full below, a week ahead of its release on Run For Cover. While it’s easy to compare Little Big League to another Massachusetts band that shares similar ‘90s inspirations–the Pavement-esque Speedy Ortiz–each band has found ways to confidently craft its own unique take on this kind of punk-adjacent indie-rock. That confidence spills out of Zauner, giving Tropical Jinx her most incisive lyrics, as well as songs that insure that if anyone questions whether she’s still “doing music” in the future it’s because they’re itching to hear more.