Is vodkawine a mix of vodka and wine? Yes, yes, it is. Did Sad Girls Aquatics Club write and record their first EP, fittingly titled, Vodkawine under the influence of that mixture? They didn’t not do it.
What “seemed like a good idea at the time,” turned into a winter-long escapade of fortifying their wine with vodka.
“It certainly saves time,” says Marie Mashyna, one half of Sad Girls Aquatic Club.
Fueled by their concoction, late night Taco Bell runs (not at the same time, of course), and heartache, Mashyna and Chelsea Rumbaugh spent the snowy season recording the seven-track EP, which dropped on all major streaming platforms Nov. 16.
The title track, a bass-heavy song laden with light, haunting lyrics, sounds like it was somehow steeped in vodkawine. It sets the tone for the moody haze of electronic and dream-pop that makes up the EP.
“Our intention was to create an inclusive environment where people can connect to our music and hopefully not feel so alone in their vulnerability,” says Mashyna. “We lovingly refer to our music as breakup pop.”
Collectively, the tracks on Vodkawine touch on relatable subjects. Although “Oh Billy” is about Mashyna’s French bulldog, the song talks about attempting to win the affection of someone who treats you like you're invisible. “How Do I Get What I Want” captures the overwhelming feeling of losing yourself in possibility, and the magic that happens when the right situations combine. “Hearts Disagree” fills the ‘love song’ category and is a soaring breakup anthem. A standout is “Stay Zen My Hoes,” a 55-second bridge between “Hearts Disagree” and “Goth Annihilation” that features deep breathing and the sounds of walking through nature at night, a relatable quest to find a small moment of peace in a world with constant stimulation.
Sad Girls Aquatics Club manages to pack millennial melancholy, social commentary, and raw emotion into a muted, pastel package. And to think, it was all made on a steady diet of vodkawine.
