"SLUT" took years for Pollyanna vocalist Jill Beckett to finish. There were "so many different self-discoveries that were made during the writing process of it," she says of the New Jersey band's single, out everywhere today. Along the way, she re-wrote it until finally arriving at a punky, bubble-grunge track with "multiple meanings" and a key, existential question at its core: "Why does the word, 'slut,' have such a negative connotation in the world?"
In addition to Beckett, Pollyanna is made up of percussionist Daniel McCool, bassist Brandon Bolton and guitarist Jack Rose, whose band name comes from the dictionary definition, "To be unreasonably or illogically optimistic." This attitude permeates all their music, but particularly with "SLUT," which Beckett says "reclaims this 'negative' word in society" to "make it something positive, especially as a queer person."
She continues, "Why on earth were men raised to have sex with multiple partners for self-fulfillment and receive massive societal praise around that, but when it's a woman or non-male that's doing it, it's gross, not classy, slutty, trashy and unattractive? Why is 'slutty' and 'trashy' a thing people are afraid of being called?"
The Jasia Ka-directed "SLUT" music video, premiering on PAPER, puts the rising band inside a neon-lit strip club, which doubles as an unruly rock show with chaotic camera cuts, lime-green slime and cigarettes flying everywhere. "I just want to be a slut/ Don't get too close to me, yeah," Beckett wails above screeching guitars. "I don't want to give a fuck/ Throw all my feelings out now."
"As a person of the queer polyamorous community, I choose to be very vocal on these topics especially in this song speaking about society cramming us into a box of how we should and shouldn't be, and also the struggle to feel comfortable and confident in our bodies and minds," Beckett says, celebrating femmes who're "loud" and "sex positive" through this cut.
Described as "a movement for breaking free out of the box we were built to live in," Pollyanna's "SLUT" will appear on their forthcoming album, Slime, out June 17 via I Surrender Records. Across 12 total tracks, the new LP will build off their influences, which range from power-pop to '90s punk, sprinkled with a bit of metal and shoegaze to boot. "So go where those fishnets to the grocery store in pride," they say, in anticipation of a slutty summer.
Stream "SLUT" by Pollyanna, below, and pre-order Slime, here.
Photo courtesy of Connor Meany