Best of Month: AotY #3: Pollyanna's "Slime" via I Surrender


I don’t really do artist of the year as a category but if I did this year it would absolutely go to Pollyanna. My relationship with this band is well documented but as a refresher; I found out about Pollyanna through the livestreamed Good Noise Festival in 2020, where I watched them put on a set that has stuck with me two years later. From there I was hooked on their Sugar Coat EP and included its deluxe version on my top EPs list the year after it truly came out. (This was due to its December release, though I might be reworking my year end rules for next year.)

After that I was hungry for more. I tried hard to get my local promoter to notice Pollyanna so that they would come over to PVD. I’m not sure I had a hand in it but they did. I got to see them alongside shallow pools, Fox Teeth and more in my hometown. At that show I was just a few feet away from a band that had become a fast favorite and I chickened out of saying hello. But let me explain! This was before I came out as trans to my family and I was masking pretty fiercely and I didn’t want to meet anyone new as my deadname, I didn’t want to introduce myself as Aster, (which is now my middle name, but hindsight) so I lost the connection.


From there, however, I did a full AsterTracks on Slime and had a member of the band reach out to me about my essay, my connection with the songs and my criticisms of the record. I don’t want to reveal anything about our conversation on their account but to go from being a huge fan, to interacting regularly on the timeline and then this deep and personal connection felt special. I haven’t met anyone in the band or even gotten to see them since but they mean everything to me.


Aside from my own experiences, I’m just proud of them in general. They’ve come a long way from the unsigned band I got into and are now touring their record around the country. If I did pick an artist of the year, there wouldn’t even be another in my mind.

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