{"id":514509,"date":"2026-03-04T21:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T21:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/514509\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T21:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T21:07:10","slug":"a-pretty-distinctive-theme-throughout-is-lack-of-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/514509\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA pretty distinctive theme throughout is lack of identity\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhere\u2019s my gold star?\u201d cries Ethan Ramon on \u2018Goldstar\u2019, the intriguing title track of The Sophs<\/a>\u2019 forthcoming debut album. Not only does it u-turn from tense flamenco into distorted garage-rock \u2013 think The Strokes<\/a>\u2019 2005 single \u2018Juicebox\u2019 \u2013 at the click of his fingers, but Ramon\u2019s pleas for recognition and validation have arguably manifested in reality. Since penning the LP across eight sessions in guitarist Seth Smades\u2019 home studio, The Sophs have signed to Rough Trade<\/a>, earned a spot in this year\u2019s NME 100<\/a>, supported Shame<\/a>, and secured a slot at Primavera Sound<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole thing is the gold star is intangible: it doesn\u2019t exist, and it\u2019ll never exist,\u201d responds Ramon, when NME asks how he feels as the band begin to gain attention. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say we\u2019re not grateful for the acclaim and recognition, because how can we not be? In a landscape this competitive, where you have so much accessibility to every artist\u2019s stats, it\u2019s actually quite easy to feel insufficient. So, we still definitely have yet to find our gold star.\u201d<\/p>\n

Measured ambition is something that The Sophs have in bucketloads. Ramon, who\u2019s wearing a grey PJ Harvey<\/a> shirt, is laid back, but answers all of NME\u2019s questions with immense conviction and precision. Joined today by bassist Cole Bobbitt in Los Angeles, the frontman\u2019s uncompromising determination was key to The Sophs\u2019 breakthrough. In one \u201cgiant blast\u201d, he used an email finder subscription in 2024 to contact the CEOs of 30 independent labels, pitching the project from the songs down to the font size. Two replied.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI had always been into cold DMing, and I still am, to be honest,\u201d Ramon recalls. \u201cArtists that I like, labels, agents, managers. I would never hear back, but that doesn\u2019t really matter to me. It\u2019s the act of doing it. I heard back from Rough Trade the day after, and Secretly Group wrote me a very nice rejection email.\u201d Geoff Travis said that his Rough Trade co-founder, Jeannette Lee, would be passing through LA in 10 days \u2013 and he instructed The Sophs to arrange a show.<\/p>\n

Calling in a favour from the doorman at Pasadena\u2019s Old Towne Pub, Bobbitt squeezed The Sophs onto a four-band bill, while Ramon navigated the \u201cstressful but gratifying\u201d 10-day build-up by visiting a sensory deprivation chamber and going sober. This was not an opportunity they were going to squander. \u201cWe locked ourselves in a practice space for six hours a day,\u201d the frontman reveals. Rough Trade got on board, endorsing Ramon\u2019s faith in the \u201cundeniable\u201d quality of \u2018Goldstar\u2019, which was already finished in its entirety.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time that we switch genres, it\u2019s done so in a desperate attempt to get the world to understand us, which is a distinctly human experience\u201d \u2013 Ethan Ramon<\/p>\n

In 2023, Ramon moved from Phoenix, Arizona, to LA with school friends Smades, Austin Parker Jones (guitar) and Sam Yuh (keyboards). As they juggled other projects, the four formed The Sophs on the sidelines, creating music that they were only partially invested in, but eventually, everything else faded. \u201cThe Sophs was the only thing we were left with, and decided to put our nose to the grindstone,\u201d Ramon explains, leading to an uptick in quality and eventually, an album. \u201cThe album was done, we were really proud of it and adamant [it couldn\u2019t] fall on deaf ears\u2026 we had to be pragmatic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonding with LA native Bobbitt over their love of \u201cbars, socialising and whiskey\u201d, their friendship blossomed by begging bars on Hollywood Boulevard to let them in at 4am, as Ramon introduced Bobbitt to the other Sophs and their early demos. \u201cWhen you hear [the music], it sells itself,\u201d declares Bobbit. \u201cIt\u2019s too good to throw on the back burner.\u201d Ramon actually grew up a drummer, but delegated duties to Devin Russ after realising \u201csinging was something I need both hands for\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Underpinned by the frenetic urgency of their live show and the sextet\u2019s core friendship, the alt-rock sound of The Sophs is disorderly and immediate. Knee-jerk genre changes give \u2018Goldstar\u2019 a distinct pub-rock feel, like you\u2019re listening to Cage The Elephant or Fidlar demos, while Ramon\u2019s effortless, almost lazy vocal delivery could lace the shoes of Julian Casablancas. Naming Elliott Smith as his gateway into a \u201cSophs-adjacent headspace\u201d, Ramon says the thematic throughline steered \u2018Goldstar\u2019 forward before the instrumentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really care about the coherence or consistency of sonic landscapes throughout the record, as long as we have the message,\u201d he clarifies. \u201cA pretty distinctive theme throughout is lack of identity \u2013 a person wearing a million hats because they\u2019re really uncomfortable with showing the top of their head. Every time that we switch genres, it\u2019s done so in a desperate attempt to get the world to understand us, which is a distinctly human experience. I wanted the narrator of \u2018Goldstar\u2019 to be frantically switching hats, switching genres.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you\u2019re a few weeks removed from your rock bottom is when you make your best art\u201d \u2013 Ethan Ramon<\/p>\n

A time capsule of the \u201cunbridled chaos\u201d that was Ramon\u2019s 2024, \u2018Goldstar\u2019 sees him critically engage with his behaviours following his move to LA. \u201cWhat good\u2019s an honest man who\u2019s accepted he\u2019s lost?\u201d he asks on \u2018Death In The Family\u2019, trying to find his feet. \u201cOnce you\u2019re a few weeks removed from your rock bottom is when you make your best art,\u201d he explains. On \u2018Blitzed Again\u2019, he commiserates his inability to emulate Frida Kahlo or Marina Abramovi\u0107 and create a \u201cmelancholy masterpiece\u201d out of heartbreak. Instead, he wallows on his couch, washing his hands of the task: \u201cDon\u2019t look to me to do it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Such unapologetic honesty shines through on \u2018Goldstar\u2019. \u201cIf you\u2019re being totally honest, you verge on being provocative,\u201d he continues. \u201cI\u2019ve always been a bit of a prick and used that brutal, provocative honesty to protect myself, so people wouldn\u2019t feel the need to dig any further. It\u2019s like that scene<\/a> in [2002 film] 8 Mile with Eminem<\/a>: \u2018Tell these people something they don\u2019t know about me\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On their recent US tour with Shame, the provocative nature of The Sophs\u2019 sound bled through to new audiences. \u201cThere were some people that were definitely caught off guard,\u201d suggests Bobbitt. \u201cBeing provocative is a tool you have to treat with a lot of respect,\u201d chimes in Ramon. \u201c[Creating] art with the sole purpose of being provocative is cheap, and you shouldn\u2019t do it. Provocativeness exists best when it\u2019s a side effect of your honesty, not the main goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, the main goal \u2013 in the spirit of that Pasadena audition \u2013 is to grab the opportunity by the scruff of the neck. They hope to release their Soph-omore record, which is already finished, in 2027. \u201cWe have a pretty big year planned\u2026 not to fuck it up would be great!\u201d Ramon jests. \u201cWe\u2019re incredibly ambitious, and we want \u2018Goldstar\u2019 to be a launching pad. To bring us to the next level, where we have a bit more leverage every time we talk to a promoter or label. I crave a power that I don\u2019t quite have yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Goldstar\u2019 is out March 13 via Rough Trade Records<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhere\u2019s my gold star?\u201d cries Ethan Ramon on \u2018Goldstar\u2019, the intriguing title track of The Sophs\u2019 forthcoming debut…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[4526,49,48,75,1645,341],"class_list":["post-514509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-alternative","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-indie","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}