New York’s Energy Whores are not the type to tread lightly, and with “Pretty Sparkly Things” they’ve sharpened their claws into one of society’s most glaring contradictions: our obsession with wealth and status even as millions struggle just to get by. Known for merging electronic pulses with folk-like storytelling and a punkish defiance, the band thrives on confronting the subjects most mainstream acts carefully avoid. Here, the target is luxury culture and the hollow mythology of the ultra-rich, taken to task with biting satire and no shortage of venom. It’s as much an anthem for the dance floor as it is a protest chant against the shimmering distractions of modern consumerism.
The track wastes no time in pulling you in, wrapping angular synths around a beat that feels designed to move bodies while destabilizing the mind. Carrie Schoenfeld’s vocal delivery is hypnotic, almost lullaby-like at times, but always laced with an acidic edge that makes the words cut deep. Lines like “Can’t pay your bills, can’t afford your pills” juxtapose financial struggle with the obscene indulgence of pop royalty partying backstage, painting a picture of cultural whiplash where glamour coexists with despair. The genius lies in the dissonance: the music beckons you to dance, while the lyrics stop you mid-step to ask what exactly you’re dancing for. It’s political art disguised as electropop, wielding irony as its sharpest weapon.
Lyrically, “Pretty Sparkly Things” is fearless, refusing to sand down its satire for palatability. Influencers with filters, spoiled heiresses clutching pearls, and billionaires hiding behind their wealth are skewered with almost gleeful precision. Yet the track never descends into bitterness alone—there’s a mischievousness to the delivery, a reminder that mockery itself can be a form of resistance. The result feels like a protest march through a nightclub: equal parts fun, furious, and uncompromising. Energy Whores are critiquing society’s obsession with materialism and also mocking its absurd theater, stripping the glamour from its gold-plated veneer until what’s left is grotesque, laughable, and impossible to ignore.
What’s remarkable is how well the production mirrors the themes. The beat pulses like neon, all sparkle and allure, while subtle distortions and jagged edges peek through the gloss, echoing the illusion of wealth and status as a shimmering façade over something rotting underneath. It’s music and design, every sonic choice serving the song’s duality of glitter and grit. You can feel the lineage of punk rebellion, the narrative sharpness of folk protest, and the hypnotic pull of electronic music all colliding here. It’s a heady cocktail that situates “Pretty Sparkly Things” firmly within Energy Whores’ broader mission: making music that moves you while forcing you to question the world around you.
As a preview of the forthcoming album “Arsenal of Democracy,” “Pretty Sparkly Things” sets the tone for a body of work that promises to be as confrontational as it is captivating. Energy Whores have been described as Patti Smith meets Talking Heads filtered through EDM and rage, and this single fully delivers on that reputation. In an era where political commentary in pop often feels watered down or cloaked in metaphor, this track feels refreshingly unafraid to say the quiet parts out loud. With “Pretty Sparkly Things”, Energy Whores take the glitter and weaponize it by transforming dance music into dissent, and protest into something you can shout, sing, and sweat along to.
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