WTF?!? IS GOING ON WITH LOKOY - "CLASSIC CITY GIRL"

Sløtface bassist Lokoy makes us wonder if we've finally lost it after however many months of quarantine, with "Classic City Girl".

Let's be real, social media's been pretty strange for quite some time, probably since its inception. It seems to get a little stranger with each new iteration, or maybe that's just the age talking. TikTok offers a window into the utterly surreal, bizarre world of Gen Z or wherever we are currently, full of synchronized dancing and surreal sarcasm drier than a turkey bone packed in Himalayan salt.

Social media was already rather strange, making every random somebody feel under the same pressure to create content like they were NBC. Even though they don't do anything or go anywhere, or have any followers.

Anti-social media is more like it. And yet, with each new social media network, things get a little more surreal, a little more divorced from reality. And this was before the world ground to a screeching halt due to Coronavirus. Now, none of us are going anywhere or doing anything. And yet, we continue to dutifully produce content. Some of which is brilliant and inspired. Some is just strange. Some makes you wanna cringe out of your skin. Others have a good groove you'll bop along to all day.

Somehow "Classic City Girl" by Lokoy encapsulates all of these things, all at once. The newest single from the Sløtface bassist comes with a music video showcasing people getting down in their quarantined living rooms. Some of the dance moves are beyond strange. The outfits, even more so. One-piece swimsuit and suit jacket? Why not! Carrot orange wig, fur coat, and heels? Get in here!

LOKOY - CLASSIC CITY GIRL

It's really, really hard to say what's happening here. Are these videos plucked out from TikTok surveillance tapes? Were they solicited directly? "Classic City Girl" isn't forthcoming with any answers.

The addictively catchy electro-pop banger is every bit as surreal as its video. Lyrics read more like cut-up Dadaist poetry than any form of Human sentiment. "Mom's your manager" and "schedule your baby bump," grinding away over a wiggly synth bassline. What's it all mean? Is this genius? Madness?

One day, when we look back on these truly unprecedented times, we'll shake our head at the downright bizarre things we've done to pass the time while practicing social distancing. We are all Tom Hanks in Castaway, now. A volleyball with a bloody face is better than no company at all.

As is watching TikTok videos. Maybe. We Are: The Guard applaud how Lokoy is spending their time. And, after all, isn't madness such a comfort during such strange times?

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.