Emmy Wildwood: Mean Love EP

New York’s Emmy Wildwood is one fashionable indie rock goddess. Not only does she run a vintage store in Williamsburg, but she has her own record label and is a burgeoning pop act, too. The Village Voice named her 2013’s best indie pop star, and from the results of her new EP, Mean Love, it’s natural to see why. Combining the vocal hiccuping of a Cyndi Lauper with the smooth, seductive hooks of early Prince, the Mean Love EP is wall to wall with head nodding, club banger anthems. Final song “RVR LVR” might even worm its way delicately past your eardrums and into your cranium, it’s that good. While the rest of the four song EP doesn’t quite meet that storied height, it’s still a pretty good pop confection and worthy of your investment.

“Mean Love”, the opening track, starts with the chug-chug-chug of an electric guitar riff, before giving way to a vintage synthesizer sound while Wildwood careens over top of all this with her Lauper-esque voice. It’s a strong way to start the album, but things take a slight dip from there. “Stung” is more of a ballad that’s fragile and beautiful, but it stops the momentum of this short, 13-minute EP dead in its tracks. “Blondes”, meanwhile, is another thing of fragile beauty and sees Wildwood vamping over it. It’s pretty not bad. And we’ve already discussed “RVR LVR”. So, all in all, three out of four isn’t bad for a batting average, and that fourth one isn’t terribly horrible, either. All in all, Mean Love is a not bad statement from an artist and fashionista that is one to keep an eyeball on.