“Better” Off Sticking it Out

U.S.A./JAPAN| POP-PUNK ROCK

You remember when we said we’d have slight exceptions on Sferikul when it comes to covering artists from the U.S.? Well, here’s exception #1 – ABISHA UHL. Currently based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Abisha had quite the colorful and culture-filled life since birth. Uhl was born in Bahrain, but her parents soon moved to Japan where she lived until she was 18. When she finished school at 18, she popped overseas to Minnesota and has called it home ever since. However, she does still tour internationally from time-to-time, always taking into consideration her foreign fanbase, which is respectable of any artist.

No newbie to the music game, Uhl has been writing and making music for well over a decade now and has toured with some massive names in the industry like The Bangles and even opened up for Joan Jett when she fronted the band Sick of Sarah (also abbreviated SOS). The band Sick of Sarah was formed back in 2005 and would eventually go down as one of the most torrented bands of all time; but that’s not where Abisha’s musical story ends. Sick of Sarah went through several lineup changes over the years and after their pretty superb 6-song EP in 2015 and a 3-song acoustic EP in 2017, they sort of, well, fell off the face of the map altogether. But, Abisha didn’t. She kept making music. Though it seems like SOS may be fully out of commission, Abisha recently released a solo 4-song EP on January 10, proving to the music world that she was anything but done.

Following in the footsteps of Sick of Sarah’s sound, Abisha continues to write catchy pop hooks within a rock environment that comes so natural to her and heavy-laden guitar rock anthems that don’t need to be extremely flashy to be delightful – they just are. Her voice has a distinctive punk flavor to it that makes you sing (or yell) right along with her in your car when listen to it. She has this hard-to-describe likeability that shines through her music and performance whether on stage or via a music video and it’s almost like in everything she does, a piece of her personality is attached to it. Her personality itself is the art form. Because though she takes her career in music seriously, she is someone who loves to joke around and have a good time and is not afraid to be her unique and eccentric self, modeling for others a form of self-acceptance only few individuals in their lifetime can grasp.

Her latest EP Better is what I would consider a “bookend album” meaning, in my best, self-made definition:

“An album in which the best songs begin and end an album; a musical blockade.”

– (From the Pixler Dictionary, also known as The Pixtionary)

The foundation of the EP was built upon the title track Better which has a phenomenal pre-chorus that gifts us with punk-filled yells of “you know you are” and chorus lines like “It was just the two of us, it don’t get much better building castles in the sun… you know I feel better where you are”. It’s a power ballad of sorts that doesn’t ever let up from start to finish, knocking your ears in their drums with an unrelenting poppy momentum. Undoubtedly the strongest track of the 4 songs, it almost negates the middle two songs Call the Doctor and Honest because of said strength, which is unfortunate.

Call the Doctor sounds awfully similar to Bars Full of Strangers, the second track from Sick of Sarah’s EP Anthem, and is probably the weakest of the four songs. The lyrics are just ok, and while the chorus attempts to bring a sense of purpose to the song, the lackluster dynamics never build it into anything with much power behind it. I want to like it, but I am not fond of it. The inadequacies of Call the Doctor are improved upon in Honest, a song that preaches to listeners to be true to themselves, not base their lives on what others think of them. Uhl practices what she preaches and this song drives her philosophy of life home, full to the brim with vulnerability and emotion behind it.

The last track F*** You has one of the catchiest choruses I’ve heard lately, making the listener sing along almost instantly. If you have ever wondered what it would feel like to start singing a song involuntarily, then this is probably that song. You just won’t be able to help yourself! The alt rock band The Last Year accompanies Abisha on this track, creating a heavier sound that fits the overall “EFF IT” attitude well, drum fills and all. Is it a super deep song? No. Is it a super fun song to jam out to? YES. The song is a win-win no matter how you look at it.

It is a real shame that not many people have taken as much notice of Abisha’s talent for what it is in this overwhelming sea of musicians and artists out there currently. The rock, pop and punk fusion she has created for herself has the potential to grow into something much greater with the right people and fans behind her, so I can only hope that she keeps perfecting her craft and enduring what may seem like desert spots in her career. It may get dry from time to time, but Abisha is that cactus that just keeps on thriving, growing bigger, stronger and more resilient as time goes on.

And we believe in her craft so much that we are giving away not one, but TWO of her EPs this month! So if you haven’t signed up to our newsletter yet, you should probably get on that! You can sign up here!

 

 

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Listen to…
Better
F*** You

If You Like…
Blink-182
Girl In a Coma
New Found Glory