superviolet Turns Mid-Century Rock ‘n’ Roll into a Midwest Punk Wonder on “Locket”

A wave of sadness washed over Ohioans from Dayton to Youngstown when, in 2022, it was announced that the state’s beloved pop punk troupe the Sidekicks were calling it a day for good. After playing together for more than a decade, the band injected colorful hooks into frontman Steven Ciolek’s always-evolving and always-thoughtful songwriting. Earlier this year, Ciolek returned with a new project—a new beginning—called superviolet, which he started with help from his former Sidekicks bandmate Matty Sanders and Saintseneca’s Zac Little. Ciolek’s debut album as superviolet, Infinite Spring, arrives on April 21 from Lame-O Records and has been preceded by singles “Overrater” and “Big Songbirds Don’t Cry”—the latter a recent Best New Songs alum.

Today, Ciolek has offered up one final teaser single: “Locket,” a warm blanket of guitar pop with a melody you’ll be humming all week and beyond. It’s got a similar sonic architecture as the final Sidekicks album, Happiness Hours, which taps into a bubbly, hook-heavy blueprint that allows the focus to be on Ciolek’s vocals. But, instead of employing a coming-of-age narrative, he’s ruminating on his own self-doubt, attempting to put the pieces of his own presentation together. “Well then how come all my candor / Just comes across as grandeur / And I’m a locket with my own face in the frame / I didn’t mean to keep you waiting / I was laying in bed with Satan / Now all my nightmares are in highchairs / And laughing / They’re laughing with me,” he sings before melting into a euphoric vocal run.

Listen to “Locket” and check out the album artwork and tracklist for Infinite Spring below.

Infinite Spring artwork:

Infinite Spring tracklist:
Angels On The Ground
Blue Bower
Big Songbirds Don’t Cry
Good Ghost
Dream Dating
Long Drive
Locket
Overrater
Infinite Spring
Wave Back