Violet Crime – Heard You Like The Rolling Stones
Breezy, smooth instrumentation and dual harmonisation welcome the listener into Chicago natives Violet Crimes’ “Heard You Like The Rolling Stones.”
The cognizant love track evokes nostalgic vibes of easygoing American summer tunes of the 1990s, with its chill surf rock-influenced riffs and calming vocal inflections throughout.
The flirtatious, ethereal tone in both singers’ voices are concocted perfectly; they tie together to create one subtly powerful force that brings a vintage sound to a modern track.
The lyrical narrative of two could-be lovers, trying to figure each other out, is the heart of the relatable track: “Take it slow / I just wanna know what makes you tick / Like the watch on your tattooed wrist.”
Violet Crimes’ lyricism is clever. It’s light and bubbly, but it’s endearing—with the narrator suggesting that he feels like a fool by just sitting back and not speaking up.
When he “hears you [she] likes the rolling stones,” he decides to step up and use that as a connecting point in which to flirt and speak with the woman he is pursuing, as he had been too shy previously.
The imagery–from the “watch on your tattooed wrist” to “take your whiskey on the rocks / and I like when you call the shots”–paints a blissful landscape of nerve-wracking, unsure love.
We’ve seen this narrative in music a million times before, but there’s something so nostalgic, lo-fi and dreamy about this track that instantly puts you in a good mood.
It’s a bittersweet track of romance songs of another year—a throwback to the golden age of breezy indie rock. You’d see this kind of a track on an early TRL countdown in the summer of 1999.
“Heard You Like The Rolling Stones” will be followed by Violet Crimes’ debut solo EP this June, alongside a string of much-anticipated show dates.
Words by Alexis den Boggende
