Channeling widespread alternative, emo, punk, and grunge influences into a visceral indie rock,
the Inflorescence was started by a quartet of San Diego teens in 2019. Then going by the Fluorescents, their moody debut EP created enough buzz that they landed on the Kill Rock Stars label. With members still juggling high school and college course loads at the time of its release, they came into their own on their debut album,
Remember What I Look Like. Tempering an opening squeal of feedback with a melancholy guitar riff, the group set the album's tone with the driving "Phantom Feelings," which quickly settles into bouncy rhythms and melodic hooks that help uplift exasperated lyrics like, "I thought we were going somewhere/I can't get past the first week/Without losing feelings." Sentiments like these persist throughout songs such as "So Much of Nothing" and "Tomorrow Night," which wonders, "Why can't my brain/Just stop spinning/Stop pretending it'll ever work and try to make it right." One of the album's slower, more resigned songs, the latter track gathers strength and increases in volume as it progresses through rounds of verses, choruses, and guitar solos, culminating in a rock jam. Lead vocalist and main songwriter Tuesday Denekas ultimately splits their time between a softer, intimate vocal tone and a more frustrated half-yell here, often but not always employing both in the same song. "Board Game" closes the album with a turbulent mix of the two as well as a dramatic key change as Denekas recognizes the need to end the relationship at hand. Unsettled and insecure but self-preserving,
Remember What I Look Like bodes well for both the narratives' protagonists and the band's potential. ~ Marcy Donelson