Washington, D.C.-raised, Oakland-based Poppy Patica is preparing to release his new album, Black Cat Back Stage on May 5th. Surviving the Golden Age is excited to premiere their new single, “Sweetest Song.”
Poppy Patica live up to their name with the first minute and a half of “Sweetest Song.” Over chugging power chords, Peter Hartmann’s vocals lilt with the catchy chorus of “worst thing you can do is not try.” But just as you think you know what you are in for, the track changes. A quicker “punk” part is sped into and then slowed down and then sped up again giving the sensation of a warped record.
Hartmann sings “It’s not a secret service/it’s just protecting the capital” as the focus of the song shifts. Hartmann said “I was hoping someone would come into my life and make all my concerns about my hometown disappear. I was hoping for a love that would melt away my worries about the changes happening in DC. Someone who could be a breath of fresh air in a city that felt stale to me. I wanted to see the city through someone else’s eyes, someone whose eyes weren’t as jaded about DC as mine.” He concludes “The song kind of conflates the desire to find the perfect lover with the desire to find the perfect city.”