Goddess Energy

Who Is She’s 2017 album, Seattle Gossip, was a field trip through endless delights.

A collection of unforgettable rock and roll hits about rom-coms, missed connection ads, the magic of a Myspace top 8 and the chemistry of David Arquette and Courtney Cox. Now, the Seattle supergroup of master songwriters – Robin Edwards (Lisa Prank), Bree Mckenna (Tacocat) and Julia Shapiro (Chastity Belt) – are joined by a new member: Tacocat’s Emily Nokes, who brings glorious harmonies to the studio and keyboards to the live experience, adding a new dimension to an expansive universe of sound. And with a new member comes word of a new record: Goddess Energy.

An album named in tribute to the kindest diss anyone could deliver, when the collective’s lon­gtime friend Aaron Greene once politely declined to have lunch with them because it would be “too much goddess energy.” As in all things Who Is She?, an inside joke amongst friends becomes so much more. These are songs born of the strength of friendship and community, cultivated through song-a-day challenges and late-night jams, taking the moments of their lives and the world around them and turning them on their heads, sculpting earworms and unforgettable hooks from their bones. “The three of us are always down to jam,” Mckenna says of their process that takes innocuous themes like Shania Twain and Anne Hathaway and builds them out into worlds to lose yourself in for a few minutes of pure blissful respite.

Goddess Energy bursts with hits that will burrow into brains for the rest of all our days with songs like “My My Orca Card.” The retelling of the classic Le Tigre song (“My My Metrocard”) now an exploration of the Washington transit card and a critique of Amazon overlord Je” Bezos, also famously caused a local hockey scandal that made headlines. Or “96 Ghouls,” a driving and anthemic ode to scrolling and swiping through an endless array of online dating disappointments, fists will find the air with unforgettable sing-along chants.

“MoviePass” is a sun-tinged summer jam that serves double duty as a tender ode to the beloved and lost subscription movie service. Who Is She? are more than a supergroup, they are a power trio wielding talent honed in their respective bands that has formed here into an undeniable hit machine swirling with hints of pop, indie, and punk rock. Produced by the legendary Jenn Champion (Carissa’s Wierd, S), Goddess Energy is a group chat struck by lightning and given life, a sonic bombardment of riffs and turns-of-phrase.