It’s 1991. There’s a small, local venue packed tightly with queer and femme bodies — angry, tired, heartbroken. A mosh pit breaks out among the crowd of early twenty-somethings, jumping and crowd surfing. Girls at the front with passionate yells, their leader hopping around on a pogo stick. This imagined place becomes very real with JessX’s Baby Faced.
When the “Curtain Call” opens, Jess Rosa’s reveals longing vocals and an accompanying soft ukulele. Yet Baby Faced is far from being a singer-songwriter album. Within thirty-six seconds, the bare beginning morphs into a fast-tempo punk sound. Before the groove is able to settle in, the song shifts to a half-time indie ballad of high-pitched screams, heavy drums, and garage guitar riffs. After a minute of this catchy power pop chorus, Rosa seamlessly slows back down to their innocent sound –– a perfect opener that demonstrates the clever tangents Rosa will take listeners on with their debut album.
Initially, Rosa moved to New York from Oahu during fall of 2020 for film school.
They always wrote lyrics and recorded –– what they tells Marissa Matozzo of Second Shift Live –– “cringe voice memos” in Hawaii, but never tried to pursue music seriously. Everything changed after they met Bernardo Ochoa. The two met while they was on the clock at a Brooklyn thrift store. They started talking about music –– Ochoa’s own project is Panther Hollow –– and met a month later for a jam session. He introduced them to the friends who make up their band, Matii Dunietz (drummer/producer), Avi Henig (bassist/guitarist/producer), and Eva Smittle (bass). Together they form JessX, a DIY project for gay punks.
With a lively backing band supporting a cry baby voice that both sings and screeches, Baby Faced is a lyrical album. Rosa’s passionate and wide vocal range shines throughout. On the surface, the lyrics may seem too adolescent, but the album is literally named Baby Faced. Although “Refrained” starts out with “Your pink hair / and nose piercing’s very cute / my heart / is numb,” they is talking about a very complicated relationship (“five years down / and I’m so through / being in and being out of love with you”). The songs’ appeal comes from how tragically forward and vulnerable Rosa is, much like Best Coast’s Crazy For You. They wear their heart on their sleeve and it’s relatable for all.
Rosa doesn’t mind making fun of themselves either. On “girlz,” they sings, “just want a girl half the fuckin time / I’m so naggy with my bitchy whine / and sometimes I think to myself / I’m fuckin great and sexy as hell.” They’re best when their self-deprication also comes across as endearing.. Only later does it become corny when they say,, “get some Thai food dude, that shit slaps / like the one right by my apartment / chef’s kiss dude like.” All is forgiven the song finishes with, “dude wait hold up this girl from tinder just messaged me.” Using the chef’s kiss meme is tacky, using the internet for Tinder is everyone’s sad reality.
A life outside of crushes inspires Rosa as well. “13 18” is a shouted diary entry about fighting with their long lost sister, “alika” is a voice over from a FaceTime call with their brother layered on a simple ukulele for a nostalgic transition, “mommy issues” is a riot grrrl dance track telling a story about growing up, and the closer “MFL” is Rosa’s final fuck you. In this last one, Rosa throws out their former docile tendencies with the final lines, “I don’t wanna be someone’s bitch / I don’t wanna be someone’s miss / I just wanna be across the hall / Give me the phone I’m making a call / To the girl I thought I knew / It’s been years I outgrew / She’s so gone / Yeah she’d dead / Sexy bitch took her place instead / and it’s my fuckin life.” Their repetition of “My. Fuckin. Life.” turns the song into the ultimate IDGAF, cool-girl anthem. Staying true to the Baby Faced high energy, “MLF” features a short last minute of Rosa explaining their 5,000 tattoo ideas –– one being a baby’s face with tattoos, probably very similar to the cover art –– and friends chanting along. The layered voices on top of each other become the voices in the listeners’ head.
Baby Faced is a chaotic, youthful debut album that shows the many sides of Jess Rosa as an artist and person. The band messes around with song structure throughout making it impossible to guess what will come next. Still, the album is undeniably poppy and punk –– resembling a lot of the bands of the early Burger Records scene. Even with all of the instrumental changes, Rosa’s vocals are the real talent. With catchy, direct lyrics, JessX genuinely captures the life of a queer girlie. It’s a 30-minute album to cry, yell, and dance to.
