Chicago’s OK Cool share new single ‘nissanweekends’

Chicago-based duo OK Cool have shared nissanweekends, the latest single lifted from their forthcoming EP ‘fawn’ out April 28th via Take a Hike Records. The shimmering, fuzzed out ballad arrives alongside an equally charming stop-motion animated video created by Joe Baughman. “nissanweekends was written about the monotony of work and the stress that comes with balancing your time around it” explains the band’s Haley Blomquist. “It can feel like a waste of time to not be productive when there’s so many plates I’m trying to balance at once, ultimately making it hard to ever relax without feeling like ‘if I lay down, the earth will open up and leave me.’” nissanweekends follows the soaring lead single normal c, which Stereogum praised as “full of snaking riffs and fiery vocals, and on first listen it strikes me as quite good.” 

“One of the many things I enjoy about making music videos is grabbing inspiration from a song and creating a little world from it,” says Baughman of the ambitious video. “The final phrase of the song, ‘If I lay down the world will open up and leave me’ especially resonated with me, so I tried to create a representation of the worst case scenario fears that I have about exiting an ecosystem that seemingly depends on me. I spend a lot of time with my sets and characters whenever I make a video, and this was a very fun environment to live in for a few months.” Watch the video for nissanweekends via YouTube below.

Eight songs clocking in at a head-spinning, 17-minute runtime, OK Cool’s third EP ‘fawn’ is at heart a direct line into the minds and creative processes of the band’s songwriters Blomquist and Bridget Stiebris. It’s a kaleidoscopic stride that showcases the ongoing evolution in their union of glistening math rock and dream pop that the two shredders have been working on since their inception in 2020. The duo’s curiosity for experimentation is reflected throughout: linear, untraditional song structures are bolstered by their athletic musical precision, acute sense for hooks, and wall-of-sound mastery crafted with reverberated Telecasters and transcendent effects. 

Though the EP packs a confident punch, neither Stiebris (26) nor Blomquist (25) had ever taken on main songwriting duties in a band before starting OK Cool. “I had never sung on stage in my life and was extremely nervous about it. All we really knew is that we were always on the same page creatively in each project we had been in, and that was good enough to try writing together,” Stiebris explains. 

“It definitely did, and still mostly does, feel like we’re just finding our legs in all of this. The idea of a baby deer learning to walk felt pretty appropriate for the title of the EP–it parallels the vulnerability that comes with taking on new experiences,” Blomquist notes. Though they may feel like they’re just finding their legs, fawn stands tall, unafraid to explore and define the unique sonic language of OK Cool. ‘fawn’ is now available for pre-order here.