“French Exit” by Cuffed Up – A Song Feature

      Borrowing from an early line in their single “French Exit,” Cuffed Up pushed the door in, justifying a prediction of a favorable climate change in the 2020 IndieSphere. Last year was a strong one from an Indie perspective, but initial indications all point to a better next 12 months.

     Cuffed Up lands well, regardless of whether the band is evaluated based on an individual song or its body of work. Thus far, three songs have been shared. Each is lyrically intelligent, vocally attractive, and “guitar engaging.” Still, the songs bear more dissimilarities than correlations. “French Exit” is characterized by rhythmic spoken-word female vocals and deliberate guitar and percussion. In contrast, “Mother/Father” features a combination of male and female vocals, blistering guitar, and driving percussion. Our preference of one song over the other depends upon which one is currently playing.

      The band self-identifies with the “Sad Punk” genre – Post Punk. The attitude oozes from the music of Cuffed Up. “French Exit” begins by voicing a distaste for small talk and trite social pleasantries. The video reinforces the feeling of isolation. Lyrically, the song turns with the reference to checking the box on finding a soulmate (around a minute and a half into “French Exit”). The video takes a second turn toward the end, when the soulmate is revealed.

     The bio of Cuffed Up describes the band’s origin:
  Sapphire Jewell met Ralph Torrefranca at a friend’s party where the two discovered their mutual passion for new modern UK punk, like Shame and Idles, which caused them to start writing immediately. Sapphire and Ralph share both guitar and vocal duties as they back each other up with edgy harmonies. Joe Liptock and Vic Ordonez fill out the rest of the band on drums and bass.

     With respect to “French Exit:”

  “A lot of us deal with anxiety in social functions but it’s easy to get swept into the unhealthy act of labeling one’s self worth” says Sapphire, “’French Exit’ is kind of a love letter to all of the significant others who know the ‘real’ you and keep us all grounded.” Ralph adds “We have a not so secret love for those classic 80’s/90’s post-rock love songs. Frenchy (our nickname for the song in our set) is definitely an ode to bands of that era like Sonic Youth and The Pixies.”

     The music video is directed by Josh Drew and follows much of the theme written in the seams of the lyrics. The saturated and neon-lush music video highlights the journey it takes to get to that special someone who is ultimately the only person in the world that really knows you for who you are.

     Cuffed Up's self-titled EP comes out February 12, 2020, via Corduroy Recordings. The four-track EP can be pre-ordered at https://cuffedupmusic.com/

     “French Exit” by Cuffed Up 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cuffedupmusic

Website: https://cuffedupmusic.com/

Bandcamp: https://cuffedup.bandcamp.com/

Tour Dates
1/27 - School Night Showcase (Los Angeles, CA)
2/5 - The Observatory w/ Silversun Pickups (Santa Ana, CA)
3/16 - 3/21 - SXSW (Austin, TX)