Public Appeal Struts "On The Scene" with New Single

Public Appeal by Pikoi

Montreal pop provocateur Public Appeal steps into her spotlight with new single “On The Scene,” out now via Arbutus Records.

Co-produced with bounce2, the track is a dizzying electro romp that cements Public Appeal as an avatar of indie sleaze’s next wave. Clocking in at just over two minutes, the avant-pop artist flips between slick rap flows and candy-sweet coos, channelling the swagger of Kreayshawn and early Ke$ha. For those tapped into Montreal’s underground, her ascent comes as no surprise — she’s previously enlisted the likes of Babynymph and Ayesha Erotica to sharpen her sound. But this release puts her star on full display.

Said Public Appeal of “On The Scene”:

“I wrote the song two years ago when I was freshly 19 – it's one of those songs that encapsulates feeling like a teenager but having the freedom of an adult with endless possibilities. Even though the song has a fun and playful manner, it also deals with emotions of confusion and insecurity, wanting to disappear and create a new life for myself through a new lens. ‘On The Scene’ is the typical 19-year-old city living.”

Filmed at infamous Montreal haunt Système, the single’s music video captures Public Appeal in full debutante form — decked out in a chunky belt and vintage white frames, strutting through the club in a late-aughts fever dream. The footage flits between chopped-up party scenes and self-assured bathroom confessionals; flash by flash, she’s announced her arrival. With mismatched fashion and irreverent confidence, Public Appeal rises beyond the revival.

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Public Appeal

Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify

Rebecca Judd is the Editorial & Operations Lead of Also Cool Mag. She is currently based in Ottawa.

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Palomosa 2025: A Weekend of Chaos, Colour, and Camp

Palomosa 2025 by Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter

We’re still catching up on sleep from the buzz of Palomosa. The second edition of the festival delivered a spectrum of performances—from gripping moon-lit shoegaze to blitzing pop perfection—in a whirlwind of a weekend. We stumbled out of Parc Jean-Drapeau dazed, exhilarated, and with a Notes App full of thoughts from Montreal’s it-music weekend – here they are.

Zack Fox by Malaika Astorga

Palomosa’s Block Party (presented by Piknic Électronik) welcomed festival-goers on Thursday. Despite the unrelenting downpour, Tallandskiinny and Zack Fox had the crowd partying hard. The spirit set the tone for the rest of the weekend – upbeat, energetic, and ready to have a good time regardless of the circumstances.

MGNA Crrrta by Rebecca Judd

Learning our lesson, we arrived ready for the official Day 1 rain-boot-clad à la Glastonbury. Friday was defined by the magnetism of cult-followed artists, starting with NYC electro-pop duo MGNA Crrrta. At just 21, the duo comprised of Farheen Khan and Ginger Scott have garnered an international following for their audacious, red-lining dance tracks. Decked out in 2013-esque cross tights and a crystal applique headband, the pair touted a playful stage presence that perfectly aligned with the sun coming out just in time for their set, where their laissez-faire attitude and bubble machine had us nostalgic for the dog days of summer. “Summer is my favourite season in the world!” 

The Hellp by Rebecca Judd

Next up on Palomosa’s Fizz Stage were Los Angeles electroclashers The Hellp. Shockingly punctual, they kicked into gear with saturated pop favourites “Hot Fun” and “Colorado,” which vibrated through the early crowd like the best kind of dorm-room daydream. Noah Dillon doubled over his mic while Chandler Ransom Lucy coolly puffed through a string of cigarettes, locking in without breaking focus. Midway through, “California Dream Girl” morphed into a tongue-in-cheek interpolation of Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” a wink that drew cheers from the pit. After our exclusive interview with the band (coming soon…!), they confirmed it was their first time in Montreal, but judging by the emphatic reception, the city already claimed them as its own.

MCR-T by Malaika Astorga

Berlin-based international artist collective Live From Earth took over the Scene du Jardin, and resident DJ, rapper and producer MCR-T had us dancing with our entire bodies. He performed some of his original songs throughout his set, singing over top, while also DJing other bangers, with his crew proudly flying the Live From Earth Flag in the background. 

Back on the Fizz Stage, Lower East Side group Fcukers turned the party with their acidic house flounce. Filling out their sound as a four-piece, the live renditions of heavy-hitters like “Like It Like That” and recent heater “Play Me” were electrifying with drums and guitar. Seeing the band’s rave diva frontwoman Shannon Wise skate around her bandmates in real time almost distracted from the unbalanced live mix. The band played it cool as the crowd lost themselves in the bass. 

Cecile Believe by Rebecca Judd

Day 2 arrived with a groggy head, but the remnants of Palomosa’s eclectic roster were enough to shake off the sleepiness. Waking us from our end-of-fest slumber was the hypnotic pull of Cecile Believe. The experimental pop artist emerged with gratitude for the city where she began her ascent before diving into her set. Her crystalline vocals soared far beyond the Fizz Stage, and between the wistful purity of “Ponytail” and the rhythmic surge of “Blink Twice,” her signature blend of experimental textures and pop immediacy kept the audience completely absorbed. Most striking was Believe’s sense of movement, every bit as fluid as her dextrous voice. In our forthcoming interview with Believe, we explore the foundations of this presence and some of the recent projects that have propelled her artistry.

Yeule by Rebecca Judd

Sometime later, Yeule emerged onto the Fizz Stage, their petite frame cloaked in a cropped leather ensemble. As we noted in our Top Picks, their latest record Evangelic Girl is a Gun had marked a turn toward a gritty trip-hop slant, and the size of the crowd suggested its pull was widely felt. While Yeule was characteristically mesmerizing as an entity—wielding their electric guitar with ease, flailing their limbs to the beat—the vocal mix let them down, smothering a voice already fragile in its breathiness. This felt most apparent on songs like “Eko,” its glittering refrain completely dissolved by the backing track. Yet Yeule never lost their grip on the masses, which swelled with awe during their cover of “Anthems of a Seventeen Year-Old Girl.” Closing the show with a cigarette between their lips, Yeule strutted off stage, leaving only the phantom of their sound behind.

Rebecca Black by Rebecca Judd

But the award for most consuming performance of the night easily goes to rising pop legend Rebecca Black – yes, that one. Her mic was unmistakably on—best demonstrated by a cheeky yet nimble cover of “Ur So Gay”—and the camp factor was cranked past ten. Flanked by Westboro Baptist Church-esque signage promoting “homo sex,” Black flashed her turquoise bloomers as she and her dancers snapped through clockwork choreography, spilling into every inch of the stage.  By the time Black descended into a hyperpop fusion of “Friday” and “Sugar Water Cyanide,” the audience was delirious with glee. “If you don’t go hard, I’m gonna kill you!” Black shrieked, crawling onto her dancers’ backs and launching her sunglasses to the side. Something about this climax felt oddly emotional: here was someone who rode the wave of relentless, worldwide bullying into a daringly creative career. All those years ago she was cast as a punchline, and this felt like her metamorphosis.

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Palomosa

Website | Instagram

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

Malaika Astorga is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

Rebecca Judd is the Editorial and Operations Lead of Also Cool Mag. She is currently based in Ottawa.

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Interview: Franki Charms with Electropop Antics on Debut EP "All the Things I Try to Say"

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Helena Palmer AKA Franki

Like a chandelier suspended over a crowded dancefloor, Franki’s debut EP All the Things I Try to Say fractalizes flirtatious embers for all that relish in its captivating electropop beams. The new project of singer-songwriter, producer and visual director Helena Palmer arrives in the afterglow of Brat summer, here to thaw the stillness of Montreal winters with an atmosphere that evokes steamy nightclub windows to meet cutes under apartment fairy lights. 

Having conceived the project exactly a year ago during a sojourn in Ottawa, Palmer returned to Montreal with new-found creative determination, inspired by switching musical gears. 

“With my first acoustic project under my real name [Helena Palmer], I had a difficult time finding my place here in Montreal. I didn’t feel a sense of community, and it was disheartening. I was looking up to pop artists like Charli XCX, Grimes and Björk while playing guitar solo, and I didn’t feel like I had a fully-fledged identity. While I was in Ottawa for eight months last year, I decided to mess around with electronic production, and out of that I was able to launch a whole new project and everything snowballed from there. By the time I returned to Montreal in May, I had a ton of self-booked shows under my belt as Franki, and now I’m being considered for festivals and have my own scene of peers at similar points of their musical journeys. The project has helped me solidify my place as an artist here, and it’s been heartwarming and reassuring,” shares Palmer. 

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Franki on the set of her “I’m A Mess” music video, photo courtesy of the artist

While guitar composition will be making a comeback in Palmer’s musical arsenal—whether or not the project continues in its current vein of IDGAF pop—she emphasizes that reinventing her songwriting approach was a cornerstone in the genesis of Franki.  

“When I was writing primarily on guitar, I would often start with lyrics in my Notes app – words that I had been accumulating. Right now, I’m more inspired by sounds that I hear in music or life in general. I try to go for a ‘feel’ when I’m composing electronically, and then I'll weave in the lyrics afterwards,” she says. “I’ve been bouncing back and forth between both my old and new processes, as I find playing guitar very therapeutic and it helps me to think things through. For example, the lyrics and the melody of the EP’s title track came to me as one thing, and then I made an instrumental to go along with it. Whereas ‘Act Clever’ started as a track that I’d made in a single morning that was later influenced lyrically by a conversation I had with a friend later that day. ‘Jeans’ was actually the first song I wrote the day I moved back to Montreal,” adds Palmer. 

Emulating the upbeat fizz of 00s pop in the background of her childhood in England, All the Things I Try to Say embraces both the carefree spirit of being young in a vibrant city, as well as the growing pains of comparison haunting your mid-twenties.  All the Things I Try to Say thrives in its duality – with themes of self-doubt and feeling second best filtered through frothy, distorted UKG beats, punchy production and Franki’s bubbly vocals and cheeky lyricism. Capturing the vibrations of her close-knit music community, Palmer actually met the album’s producer Oren Ratowsky (Cecile Believe, Enjoy, Cowgirl Clue) one night at beloved St-Hubert Plaza club, Le Système.

On collaborating with Ratowsky, Franki recalls: “Working with Oren was the first time I’d ever sent someone else my finished tracks. He was very patient with my—let’s say carefree—way of making music, and the back and forth between us was a great lesson for me in learning to be assertive. I’m so stoked on the final product. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever worked on, and we’ve talked about co-producing together in the future.”

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All the Things I Try to Say album cover

Franki’s perfectly imperfect pop approach comes to life in her new music video for “I’m A Mess”. Directed and edited by Palmer herself, alongside Kyra Saad and Chloé Galarneau, “I’m A Mess” sees Franki and her entourage indulging in a Marie Antoinette-style dinner party à la Sofia Coppola with a little more indie sleaze flavour on the menu. Inspired by “the original messy girls” in the 1966 film Daisies by Věra Chytilová, on the video Palmer comments:

“‘I’m a Mess’ is about feeling chaotic. It captures the intensity of taking on too many tasks when you’re trying to reach a certain level and attain success in different areas of your life, while not giving yourself enough time to process [it all] or rest. It comes from that feeling that you should always be doing more.”

On All the Things I Try to Say, Franki reminds us that quote unquote success is overrated and impossible to define, and that we deserve to let loose and embrace the curveballs life throws our way: “So wear your heart on your face / And don’t be afraid / That when you speak / Someone might hear / Act big / Act clever / It’s your life girl / So do whatever you want”.

Franki plays the Also Cool Taverne Tour showcase on February 7th, 2025 at O Patro Vys in Montreal alongside Fireball Kid & Ura Star, Los3r and Public Appeal. Get your tickets and explore the festival lineup below!

Franki

Instagram | Spotify | Youtube

Zoë Argiropulos-Hunter (she/her) is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of Also Cool Mag. Aside from the mag, she is a music promoter & booker, and a radio host & DJ.

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