During the release of their debut EP Real Life Human Garbage, the quartet managed to get their name on many people's hot lists, both critic's and listener's alike. NME, DORK, Under The Radar and more tipped them as ones to watch 2023, others augur them the same shooting star career as Wet Leg. Features in Clash, The Times, The Guardian, Gaffa, Atwood, Billboard, diffus, Visions and too many more to name them all here sang the band's paean as one of the most innovative and energetic newcomers around, likening them to Alvvays, Phoebe Bridgers, The Smile or Big Thief. The songs aired on radio stations all over the world, from BBC 1 to 6 Music, P3, Amazing Radio, Triple J, Double J, FluxFM, Puls, egoFM and a lot more. Girl Scout could take a break and bathe in these achievements, instead they keep going.
On their sophomore EP the Swedes explore more musical realms: "There’s some heartland sounding stuff going on, and there’s a power-ballad," the band muses. "And then of course we have a couple rockers in there, too. We wanted to explore some new ground without abandoning the foundation we built with the first EP." Granny Music, like Real Life Human Garbage, was produced by Ali Chant; it features more edge, a rougher tone and an overall even more ambitious interpretation of the Girl Scout sound. This EP is another five-song continuation of their brilliance, shouldered by second single “Boy in Blue,” the best rock song of 2023 so far. Few bands can so deftly procure brash, mountainous noise without subduing the melody, but Jansson and Spasov’s songwriting chemistry has led to impeccable, unsuspecting algorithms within their own work. The songs don’t go where you expect them to, yet, somehow, they sound as traditional and electric as anything a young, hungry alt-rock has the resources to make. Children-of-divorce anthem “Mothers & Fathers” outlines Spasov’s anomalous shredding that can echo the brightness of Jansson’s pipes without siphoning too much of the light. “Monster” centers Jansson’s gutteral, rapturous, passionate vocals, while “Bruises” is a ballad with country influence that showcases her professionally trained vocal spectrum. There’s a reason she studied singing at the Royal College of Music: She can absolutely wail. And don’t get me started on “Millionaire,” which crawls through halves of lo-fi into a hi-fi goodness filled out by Jansson coiling her warbles into a trumpet. It’s like watching a demo transform into a mixed and mastered masterpiece in three minutes. It’s damn near impossible to start a band
Girl Scout continue to weave the tapestry of a sound that has already become so big and unbelievable, pulling patient pleasures from eras they didn’t even exist in but have strong, reverberating reverence for. Lyrically, the new songs move away from the nostalgic yearning and anxiousness of the debut: "There’s a lot of divulging into childhood memories, family dynamics and romantic relationships, and more personal stories embedded throughout. The dynamic spectrum of Granny Music is wider; there are both softer and heavier songs on this EP."