Music

Kid Sistr Hits the Gas with “Accelerator”

Los Angeles pop-rock trio

Kid Sistr is back with

a new and fervently

flirtatious single, “Accelerator.”

 

Words by Izzy Desmarais

 

 

Coming just five months after the release of their second EP, American Teenage Prophecy, the new track reinforces that the band’s momentum is picking up speed.

 

For “Accelerator,” bassist Sara Keden first developed what would be the song’s guitar riff and pre-chorus with producers/songwriters Simon Friedhoefer and Katrin Paucz. When Keden brought them to guitarist Sabel Englert, she presented the lyrics as sort of “ridiculous, place filler words.” But Englert thought otherwise, and insisted they keep them: “I just loved the pre[-chorus] so much, and I was like, ‘Okay, all bets are off, we’re going hard.’ And so we started writing like insanity in our notebooks.” Drummer Becca Webster added that it was an opportunity to say, “Let’s just try something fun and flirty.” Keden thinks the song’s energy is what allowed them to “have a lot of fun with the lyrics and say some stuff [they] wouldn’t normally say…almost like the music could stand up to something more humorous.” 

 

Kid Sistr is about to embark on their longest tour yet, supporting The Wrecks in 28 cities across North America. Preparation is not only musical, but physical and psychological as well. Taking extra care of themselves leading up to the tour is of utmost importance, that way, they can “[go] in feeling strong.” “It can just be hard to keep up your physical health. Working out, sleeping, eating: those are the top three that are hardest to do on tour,” Keden shares. Rehearsing, ironing out the set list, and double, triple-checking gear lists beforehand are key to alleviating any potential stressors. Having it down to a science helps because, as Webster explained, “When you’re on the road, you don’t really want to be thinking; you want to just be doing.” 

 

The band also likes to watch full-length concerts on YouTube while driving from venue to venue. Englert thinks “it’s really fun to study that and see, what do they do between songs? Or like, what does the bass do during the guitar solo?” Early Green Day shows, circa their 1994-95 Dookie tour, are particularly helpful to watch as a musical trio. Watching concerts is good for learning the mechanics of a show, but it’s also energizing. “The best show we played was because Sabel watched a full No Doubt concert, and then a full Alanis Morissette concert in the van,” Keden remembers. 

 

To close out our conversation, I asked Kid Sistr a couple questions that really  get into the nitty-gritty of touring: 

 

What is on your road trip playlist?

SK: “The entire album Toxicity by System of a Down. [If] I’m driving, I’m driving to that. I’m moving us forward.”

 

SE: “I always want to put on Boston because it just feels so right. You’re rolling down the highway, and we’re just doing it. Like, embarking on a rock and roll adventure.”

 

BW: “Addison Rae’s album, because for me, it’s no skips. I would get people moving if I was the driver. [The album makes you] feel like you’re on Rainbow Road, for sure.”

 

Top snack on your rider?

BW: “A sour candy.”

 

SE: “Yeah.”

 

BW: “Like Trolli Sour Worms.”

 

SE: “Sour worms, Twin Snakes.”

 

SK: (laughing) “You guys love the Twin Snakes.”

 

SE: “We love the Twin Snakes because they’re sour and they’re sweet!”

 

SK: “These girls lose me on the gummy candy…You know what mine is? I want about six strawberry Uncrustables.” 

 

“Accelerator” is out now, and Kid Sistr makes their first stop on October 15th at The Depot in Salt Lake City, Utah.