Pool Kids - A Series of Unfortunate Events
How a band can have everything go so wrong and still end up great
In the middle of the French Quarter, a little math-rock/emo band gears up for a show they’re headlining. Sitting outside the venue on Decatur Street, just blocks away from Jackson Square, the band arrived only a few hours after the Saints lost to Tampa. If you’re unfamiliar with why this is a big deal, they’re in the heart of New Orleans, where all the football fans soak up booze out of celebration or grief.
Pool Kids were lucky enough to park their van at the end of the block but I was just thinking how unlucky the band has been leading up to this moment. Initially, they booked another venue in town but canceled after the community boycotted the venue for firing its entire staff without notice. So they had to rebook their headline show to a dive in the French Quarter, swarming with football fans and tourists. And to top it all off, the vocalist Christine Goodwyne says they’ve got a tech crisis.
She works on her laptop trying to redownload the samples they need for a new song on their set list, “Further” that somehow was lost. A person at the next-door cajun/Asian fusion restaurant let them hook up to their wifi but the files would take a day to download.
It’s not the first time they’ve encountered problems playing in New Orleans. The last time they played here was in 2018 when the band was still young, too young. The venue wouldn’t allow bassist Nicollete Alvarez inside, who was 20 years old at the time.
Nicollette tongue-in-cheek said, “We had to play on the street and it was all my fault.”
But like the battle-worn punks they are, they seem unfazed. Christine stays bright and upbeat while filling me in on the tech issues. Drummer Caden Clinton lays back in his chair, fumbling through old pokemon cards he keeps in a sling. I ask him about the cards and he offers one to me. I decline for some reason, an anxious reflex.
I quickly realize I’m the most anxious person here despite it being the band’s first show back since the release of their self-titled sophomore album in July. But like the band's ventures into New Orleans, the album had its own misfortune. Or, in the half-laughing words of Christine, “It was a huge— it’s hard not to say ‘damper.’ I keep wanting to say ‘damper’ but then it sounds like a pun.”
They were working out the last kinks of the album in a Portland, OR studio with producer Mike Vernon Davis. After recording the vocals for “Pathetic,” the band went to bed at three in the morning. A couple of hours later, one of the assistant producers sleeping downstairs woke up surrounded by water. They saved what gear they could from the rising water but although it was only a few inches, the damage wrecked the studio and much of their equipment. Floodwaters ruined Caden’s drumkit, a few pedals and some other electronics.
No one was hurt, and they recouped most of the losses in an insurance claim, but the money wouldn’t come right away and they had a tour with Mom Jeans two weeks later. To fund new gear in time, they sold flood shirts and started a GoFundMe. But the flood could have been a debilitating event for the band.
Lost albums like Weezer’s scrapped “Songs From The Black Hole” and Green Day’s stolen “Cigarettes and Valentines” led to classic albums before but the band didn’t think they’d be so lucky. “We had made an emergency back-up because the producer had the foresight to do that,” Christine said, “But if we had lost the record, I don’t know what the fuck we would’ve done. That might of ended the band, honestly.”
Their fast recovery could only have happened with the support of relationships they’ve spent years cultivating by touring and being good to people. As Caden put it, “We’re connoisseurs of a good time.”
The band has toured with many great artists like Into It Over It, Spanish Love Songs and Free Throw. “Every tour we go on, we connect with everyone, as corny as that sounds,” Caden said. “I think we’ve been very lucky where every band and every tour has been a pleasure to be with.”
This New Orleans show is ahead of a short run they were doing opening for The Mountain Goats, who hit them up seemingly out of nowhere to join them. Other big bands like Real Friends and The Wonder Years have also taken notice of Pool Kids as genuinely unique, inviting them on tour. Even Haley Williams, who Pool Kids hasn’t toured with yet, shouted them out, saying this is what Paramore wished they sounded like in early 2000s.
It’s more than hype. Pool Kids pull off elaborate mathy arrangements that aren’t pretentious or overindulgent like many math bands. Beyond that, their lyrics and melody-driven songs make their music accessible and heavy in moments. Christine cheerfully calls their style “BIG rock!” and jokingly “7/4 Paramore.”
The Paramore comparison is a disturbingly common label to befall any band with a femme lead singer in the emo/pop punk world, but as far as lyricism goes, Pool Kids does touch on similar chords. Like the all-too-relatable “Arm’s Length” singing about annoying group chats and shitty day jobs.
“Nicolette and I used to work at a modern-day sweatshop,” Christine says with a laugh.
Bassist Nicolette and Christine wrote financial companies transcription in a depressing renovated bank. But unlike most office jobs, you had to be constantly typing or else you wouldn’t get paid. As Christine and Nicolette explained, if you stopped typing for longer than three minutes, the system would lock you out entirely for a 30-min unpaid “break.”
“God forbid you’re on your period and take four minutes in the bathroom,” Christine said.
The only good to come out of the ordeal was Nicollete befriending Christine and joining Pool Kids. And as they tell me more about their odd jobs, our location on Decatur attracts the usual French Quarter quirks. A man stops and stares at us, drunk football fans yell from the nearby sports bar and loud muscle cars roll by us. At one point, Christine has to stop talking and shouts, “Oh my God!!” while a particularly obnoxious car peels out right next to us. Nicollette adds, “For what? For what?” questioning the driver’s motives. [Sound bite below from this exchange. Highly recommend listening for full effect.]
I wrap up my time with them, discussing songs from the new album and Florida’s flourishing DIY scene. I thank them for their time and they welcome me to hang out a bit longer while they wait for the rest of the band to show up.
Joining them are local acts Secret Cowboy, a math rock two-piece, and Pope, a Pavement-esque power-pop band with members of now-defunct Donovan Wolfington. The band and I go our separate ways while they grab food, set up the merch table and improvise a tech fix for their set. Before the show starts, I notice a couple of fans approach Pool Kids at the merch table. One of them gives the band a copy of their debut album on vinyl, first edition and they all sign it. Only a couple dozen people show up, the smallest crowd I’ve ever seen for them out of the three other Pool Kids shows I’ve been to.
Secret Cowboy opened with a literal cymbal-shattering set. Pope breaks a string on their set's second to last song, and Pool Kids guitarist Andy Anaya immediately steps in and gives them his guitar. Pope, first denying it, takes the guitar from Andy saying, “This neck is sexy,” and proceeds with a sick metal riff. They run through the last song of their set and clear the way for Pool Kids.
It’s Pool Kids' first show since the release of the new album and they play almost half the record to start. They’re noticeably rusty, a little less tight. The venue's sound isn't great tonight, doing the band’s dynamics an injustice. In addition, channeling the beauty of the new album into a live setting is a beast of an undertaking.
Being located in the French Quarter, you never really know who’s going to show up. A middle-aged guy who’s clearly been drinking a while has been making the show a bit weird, getting a bit too close to people in the audience and at one point spilling beer on some of the band while trying to climb on stage.
Despite all this, the band’s sheer charisma and talent alone carry their performance. They all get moments to really play the shit out of their instruments, amazing hair and all. Andy shreds showing off dexterity earned from years as a prolific guitarist in the DIY scene. Christine’s vocals give off a raw honesty that’s refreshing and her guitar work demonstrates her virtuosity and power. Nicollette keeps the band’s energy mellow and cool, occasionally lunging into parts before standing back as the band’s steady hand. Caden on drums holds the whole thing together, gracefully crashing through songs and pairing with Nicollete’s laid-back groove.
After the show was over, the band felt good. A little annoyed with the drunk guy as most of us were but once the band finished, he was gone. They wanted to fix a few transitions and get their sample pad working for next time but they were happy with the first show back. Even after all the bad luck, Pool Kids doesn’t even seem to care. They’re just glad to be back together playing music, meeting new people, and trying their chances one more time.
Cool Kids Quote Pool Kids:
Random bits and info I left out of the story that you might enjoy
Pool Kids’ Pokemon Picks:
Andy - “I only really know the first gen, so I’m gonna go with Pidgey. Love a little Pidgey.
Caden - “Jarachi. It looks cool.”
Christine - “I liked Marill. People strangely— like I thought that was a common one but yea, the little blue mouse thing… My twin brother is a huge fan of Elekid, it looks like a little plug thing.”
Nicolette - “I was not a Pokemon person so I’ll just say Pikachu.”
The Wonder Years are radically kind:
Andy - “Touring with The Wonder Years was really fun because that was the first like really big tour for this band. I don’t know if you know this but The Wonder Years are definitely one of the nicest bands. Every member is just the most down-to-earth, super sweet, just wants to talk about anything. They’ll catch you loading in and they’ll be like, ‘Oh can I help!’ Like what are you doing? You’re the headliner!”
Caden - “It was the first night in the Sinclair and it was us and Spanish Love Songs in the green room. The Wonder Years are playing, the door opens and Dan [Campbell] comes in and is like, ‘Y’all need anything? Is everything okay?’ And we’re like, ‘You’re playing right now!’ He was just like, “I don’t sing at this part.” It was crazy, just truly all very nice people and they all have their ear to the ground. They truly take bands that are on the up or believe that they could come up, like they could take anyone they want and they’re taking us.”
Why Florida DIY is sick (makes so much awesome DIY, emo/punk bands):
Christine - “I guess it’s probably true for any place that has a consistent genre happening, it starts with a some people and a few bands. They just kind of influence other people around them and starts like a domino effect. I was raised in Tampa but I didn’t know any music stuff until I went to college in Tallahassee, which is fine. When I first started writing for Pool Kids I was trying to be like Echo Base which is an old Tallahassee band which is how I think it happens. There’s bands around you that sound a certain way and you’re like, ‘Yea! I want to be like that!’ There were a lot of bands doing emo stuff like “Look Mexico.”
Andy - “You’re talking about a very populous state so there’s a lot of people. There’s a lot of punk and emo from the last 10 or 12 years. But there’s all types of sick bands. There’s a great metal scene in south Florida, hardcore bands. The band Death is from right where I lived in Orlando, Altamont Springs. Deicide is from Tampa, Cannibal Corpse is in Tampa. And then you have all these punk and emo bands. I can’t even name them all there’s so many. I think it’s just youth culture. Music is popular with young people. It’s very populous and you’re just going to get that.”
Christine - “Maybe it’s because it’s also like a big old people place and maybe when there’s places with a lot of conservative old people, it makes the youth kind or rebel or something. The youth is like, ‘I want to go in basements and scream pop punk lyrics.’ I don’t know. Maybe that could be a factor.”
Orbiting Punk Picks #7 … I think?
YouTube version: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuJamXzbLKirHsKjHyGo6f1yCRWRK9B-7
