by Marcie Garcia

Growing up in Udell, Iowa, Sissy Mena (mee-nah) frontman and guitarist Tyler Brinegar spent many a clear night stargazing under headlight stars that brightly shown like a busy interstate highway. Brinegar, 27, who has since traded stargazing for shoegazing, is hoping Sissy Mena’s debut EP Young Girl – shines as brightly as the countryside skies he comes from.

LISTEN UP || Sissy Mena - Young Girl || DOWNLOAD


In the 6-track independently released album, the trio of Brinegar, Adam Bonich (drums, percussion), and Taylor Briggs (bass, piano, wurlitzer, programming), bring forth an assortment of spacey chords, reverb-filled riffs that zap and swoosh when least expected, and floating melodies that carry weightlessly and effortlessly, while still managing to add substance within its sonically complicated yet formidably simple arrangements. Their 90’s influence blends elements of Dinosaur Junior - with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - and My Bloody Valentine, as their mangled bent instruments, gnarled fuzz, and Brinegar’s airy voice fills the ether with gentle, though fierce vocals throughout, as perfectly exemplified in anthemic “Udellia”. As a whole, the EP remains undiluted, obvious in its distortion, and sometimes gets lost in its journey between dream pop and noise rock. But in this case, the scenic route is way more fun than asking for directions.

Sissy Mena plays a FREE show at Double Door (1572 Milwaukee Ave.) on Wednesday, Dec. 16, with Satellite 66, California Wives,  and Future Ghosts. Click "read more" to check out my Q&A with Tyler Brinegar.

UR: Which song on the EP are you most proud of and why?
TB: I think I'm most proud of the song "Young Girl." It's a coloring book full of sounds to me, it sounds like rockets underwater. It's the first song we worked on as a group--Taylor's syncopated bass line in the verse is the first thing he played when we were trying him out--and I think we put together a unique arrangement for it. The song came together really well on record, too. In my experience, it's rare for a track to come out just like you envisioned. Many times it will take on a new character and that's not bad, you find new charms in there. But we had an idea of what "Young Girl" could be and I think we put nearly that exact idea onto digital disc.


UR: Why the name Sissy Mena in a day where anything relating to animals and health conditions seem to be the way to go?
TB: The name Sissy Mena has an origin but no particular meaning. I like the way Sissy Mena sounds and the way it looks in print. At the time it seemed like every band was called "The (brief multiples)"--Strokes or Hives or Vines or something like that. I've always liked how the language barrier makes Sigur Ros' name imply nothing more than the sound of the band to me. Like how our names serve as our titles and the way we behave gives people an impression of that name. It comes with challenges obviously--asking people to pronounce Mena as Meeeena for one. Also, my dad will never understand my eagerness to put Sissy in my band's moniker but that's been much less of an issue in Chicago than in Iowa.


UR: Udellia is filled with echoed spacey sounds – it must have been interesting to make. Tell me what’s behind this one.
TB: Udellia is a hybrid of two things. It's common for me to play with effect pedals to mine for inspiration. The guitar sound reminded me of a UFO descending very slowly. I had visions of Spielberg's E.T. and Close Encounters--lights and magic and majesty all within this sound. I'm able to milk the sound with sustained notes because of the chords Taylor plays on bass. His versatility really frees me up as a guitar player. I don't have to strum or riff at all times. For lyrics, the UFO theme reminded me of growing up in the middle of nowhere and staring at the sky all the time. I grew up on a farm in a tiny town called Udell, IA. I suspect shoegazers might originate as stargazers. I certainly did and I recall wishing for anything to come down from the sky and rescue me from the boredom of being a teenager. I've always had my parent's phone number entered as Udellia in my cell phone. It seemed a fitting title.

We use a wash of noise to intro the song live so we weren't quite sure how to start it on record. Adam pushed me to come up with some type of ominous sound to use as an intro. I couldn't think of much so Taylor put this intro together using various sounds and feedback samples from the song itself on his computer. I think my keywords for him were UFO, mechanical, James Cameron and slow. I was thrilled when I heard it.