Power by Illuminati Hotties felt like the most familiar album of the year for me, and I haven’t been entirely sure what to make of that. This isn’t to say that Sara Tudzin’s project is merely (ahem) regurgitating the sounds of the past in ways that bring few surprises. While I would say her lane of breezy indie-pop mixed with the occasional bratty punk freakout does bear a lot of lineage to various forms of rock music that have been popular the past 20 years, there’s still something fresh about her music. Maybe this familiarity more lies in the fact that her songs are just very catchy, so much so that after just a few listens, they feel like songs that’ve been around for years.
Perhaps this effortless knack for writing catchy songs stems from Tudzin’s status as a seasoned pro of the indie scene, spending her days engineering albums by the likes of boygenius and Weyes Blood while still trying to keep this solo project going strong. “I Can’t Keep Still”, the album opener, is an uneasy document of her ADHD-feuled mindstate, constantly keeping busy and then regretting it later. But at the same time, there is an overall breeziness to the album, which leans more into cozy melodies and mid-tempo rhythms that exude a confidence that all is well, even if there’s an underlying skepticism about said wellness.
So in the end, Power is not one of the more revelatory albums of 2024, as it builds on the strengths apparent in the first two Illuminati Hotties albums with a kind of production that’s polished without being overproduced. It’s perhaps not the type of album that tends to grab a lot of attention at the end of the year when thinking about what albums managed to make the biggest splash. But at the same time, this album had the ability to fit like a glove when I just needed something catchy to put on. And the prowess with which Tudzin crafts earworms once again puts her in a good position to be an indie rock lifer, whether that keeps her relegated to being behind the scenes or not.