The only reason that New York’s Miss Grit – aka Margaret Sohn – hasn’t appeared in these pages yet despite listening to her for a few years now is that I wasn’t sure if what she was doing fit within the vaguely specific remit of this blog. It’s got thumping drum beats, squelching synths, fuzzed-out guitars, plaintive vocals, and is atmospheric as all get but would you classify it as dreampop or shoegaze or post-punk or whatever? No and yes, yes and no. But since we’re here now, I guess we’ve passed a verdict.
She first came onto my radar circa her 2021 debut EP Imposter or more specifically, a couple interviews she did in the guitar magazine press that piqued my interest. I was in a big synth phase at the time and there was plenty of that on hand, but I also loved the thick fuzz tones she got out of her Fender Jaguar (thanks, reductively, to a Caroline Shigeharu though there’s plenty of studio magic applied, obviously). Her 2023 full-length Follow The Cyborg was also excellent, and it scored her a couple of high-profile tours opening for Nation Of Language and The Last Dinner Party that, personally, stuck with me much longer than the headliners.
She’s been quiet for a stretch, but returned in October with a new single – “Tourist Mind” – whose video continues the hypnotic projection aesthetic that she took on tour. She offers this comment about the song:
It’s about how curiosity for other people’s thoughts can slowly disorient you and make it harder to return to yourself.
Margaret Sohn, Miss Grit
Miss Grit Shares New Song “Tourist Mind” @ Under The Radar
As for the aforementioned guitar press that first introduced me to Miss Grit, here’s some of it:
The Big 5: Miss Grit’s Margaret Sohn @ Premier Guitar
