Nuclear Family Fantasy– When I Get Paid
On When I Get Paid, the latest from Nuclear Family Fantasy, lead singer Mossy Ross delivers hard-hitting and relatable truths on the struggles of living paycheck to paycheck, the turmoil of toxic relationships, and the importance of leaving behind old demons while battling new ones, all steeped with the rebellious spirit of punk rock. The album offers a variety of roaring punk rock anthems and introspective moments that resonate with the anxieties of modern life.
Album title track “When I Get Paid”’ bullet lists the various ways life is put on hold until payday, with lines like “I’m gonna get therapy/When I get paid/I’m gonna take care of me/When I get paid.” The theme hits home for someone like this writer, who feels like the work never ends and the fun hardly ever begins.
The lyrically bleak but tongue-in-cheek chorus from “Guns and Boobs” lingered long after the music stopped. It’s a particularly infectious earworm that could’ve easily been penned by the B-52s. I sang this one to myself in the voice my husband and I give to my dog (picture Pee Wee Herman voicing a muppet), “Guns and boobs! Guns and boobs! All I want are the guns and boobs! Can’t be entertained without the Guns and boobs!”
In “Tell Him You Love Him,” the narrator’s inner voice is questioning the wisdom of staying with an emotionally stunted partner, urging its subject to be their own guide to breaking free from the cycle of toxic behavior once and for all. This one hits for those of us who have gone with the motions of a relationship that leaves us scratching our heads, finally seeing why we feel so dizzy and drained. The resounding “Leave him!” is a satisfying denouement.
“Bleeding Heart” confronts the echo chambers of misinformation, renouncing the far-right for their selective consumption of news. It invokes the feeling of acknowledging the nitpicking and naysaying of someone who lives in a delusional bubble while saying to them that they’re still wrong. Ross has a knack for approaching political subject matter while avoiding sounding cheesy, which is refreshing.
“When I Get Home” explores nostalgia while observing the need to move on, with catchy and incisive lyrics like “You’re not helping me, you’re haunting me.” Album closer “Wikipedia Page” comically touches on the desire for recognition in the digital age, acknowledging the reality of making music in today’s economy and finding fulfillment in modest success.
Also included among this collection is a sickening cover of “I Burn” by The Toadies, which fits in with the overarching theme and could have easily been penned by Mossy, a brilliant lyricist in her own right.
All in all this is a short and sweet set of songs that would be fun to see live, tackling serious and not-so-serious subject matter in the voice of someone living through it all. It balances horror and humor in a knowing way, as without it we’d all be doomed.
When I Get Paid is out now and available via Bandcamp.