Exclusive Premiere: Glassio Dole Out Synthpop Shimmer on ‘Poptimism’ EP

Brooklyn duo Glassio started, like so many Brooklyn bands, when its members met at NYU. Surveying a landscape full of lo-fi bedroom musings, Charlie Pinel and Sam Radseresht turned around and hightailed it to the hills of pop. After a self-titled EP and steady gigs in their home borough, their Poptimism EP drops today, and it’s a good cure to a midweek slump.

Glassio’s combined encyclopedic knowledge of pop informs their original music (they are also prolific remixers). The Eighties are all over this EP, but so are the sounds of refined early-Aughts indie electronica. They even sneak in some old-fashioned power chords on lead single “If I Was Your Boy,” connecting disparate genres by focusing on the place where they intersect. Everyone loves a good hook, whether it’s strummed or programmed. Although the resulting music is glossy and smooth, Glassio are proud members of the underground, DJing regularly at Bushwick house and techno tastemaker Bossa Nova Civic Club, and playing shows at DIY spots like Shea Stadium. This sneaks into their EP, too: None of the tracks are entirely predictable, whether it’s a slightly dissonant beat or lyrics that make you think twice.

Just as Hot Chip famously promised that “Hot Chip will break your legs” over a sweet, sparkling beat, Glassio hides menace behind satisfying thumps. It takes a few listens of EP opener “The Weight of the World on the Girl” to realize the driving chorus has you singing along to “It gets easier/If you wanna fuckin’ die.” It’s a song about getting older and the realization that you have to just keep going — the weight of the world we all feel sometimes. Setting a universal bummer to a pop track, though, makes that slog a little more palatable. Whether it’s dancing, partying, or coming to terms with the realities of human existence, Glassio knows how to make it all easier.

Baby’s All Right hosts Glassio’s EP release show tonight. Click here for more info.