People Pleaser There’s something pretty magical about Taylor Acorn. Could it be her knack for writing big pop-punk hooks that drew me into her music in the first place? Perhaps. Maybe it’s her ability to connect with relatable themes such as growing up, nostalgia, and fractured relationships that makes her musical case that much more compelling. Taylor Acorn has everything you’d want in a rising songwriter/performer, and she puts it all on full display on her sophomore record called Poster Child. “This record feels very personal but it feels nostalgic at the same time,” Acorn shares about the lyrical theme of Poster Child. “I feel like some songs are kind of on the angry side and are very vulnerable, but there’s also a lot of songs that made me feel really nostalgic for my childhood where you could go to the Warped Tour as a 15-year-old and there’s no worries about that.” By connecting to her past, while still moving her songwriting forward in exciting new directions, Acorn has all the makings of a star burning its brightest at the right moment in time.
The set begins with the track called “People Pleaser” that starts off by saying, “You’re pissing me off,” as Acorn writes a song that is both brash as much as it is to the point of wanting to not be everything to everyone. As the song unfolds, Taylor swoons over the cool pre-chorus, that is filled with handclaps in between vocals, and she explodes into a massive pop-punk chorus. Acorn’s vocals are as powerful as they’ve ever been, and she commands the song from the beginning to the end. “Crashing Out” begins with some great guitar riffing, while Taylor Acorn takes her time slow-building to the chorus of, “Crashing out on the kitchen floor / Spinning round this revolving door / Can’t slow down / It only makes me want you more, more / Pull me in and then you pull away / Sink or swimming in your tidal wave / I’m miserable / It only makes me want you more, more,” that delves into a complicated relationship that has Acorn talking about her mental health journey by mentioning her therapist’s advice as well. It’s like reading pages ripped right out of a diary, and yet she takes it all in stride and makes for a memorable one-two punch to kick off her second LP.
”Hangman” uses the clever wordplay from the old-school guessing game of discovering what word she’s thinking of with a chorus that shares, “Hey, what you doin’ up there? / Would you care to expand? / I’m holdin’ on by a thread / Are you playin’ hangman? / Did you run out of letters? / Am I stuck here forever?” While at the surface it may seem like a slight detour from the great lyrical writing we’ve come to expect from Taylor, her vocal command of the song makes you a believer in her vision for her music. The title track follows in the sequencing, as Acorn explains being the “poster child” for screwing things up in a relationship while she belts out, “I’m stupid / Damnit, I’m dumb / The poster child for screwing everything up / Including us / I’ll admit it, yeah, I think you’re the one.” It’s a hard feeling to realize that you may be pushing away the one person who you feel like you’re meant to be with, and yet Taylor Acorn’s self-deprecating approach to her lyrics are both relatable and raw.
”Home Videos” is the latest single to be released from Poster Child, and it takes a nice nostalgia dive into Acorn’s youth reminiscing over the best days of her life. The chorus of, “And I wish I could go back / To headphones, backseat of the car / When the worst thing you could break / Was just a window or an arm” is well-constructed, vivid, and filled with her key core memories of her youth. The ballad tugs on all the right heartstrings as Taylor’s improved songwriting continues to blossom. “Cheap Dopamine” is a rich mid-tempo song that has its heart in the right place as Taylor explains a relationship that appears to be one-sided and leaving her in tears. The bridge in particular of, “Bet you’ll miss your medicine / The moment that I’m gone / And the silence is deafening / When there’s nothin’ to lean on / I bet you’ll miss your medicine / Just a typical junkie / But you can’t have me,” is heartbreaking, yet it’s clear that that she was ready to move on by the conclusion of the song.
The boldness of “Blood On Your Hands” is a great, straightforward rocker that features some great power chords in the chorus, while Acorn’s cadence in the section of, “I’ve got the files / And I’ve got your number / Yeah, I’ve got the files / Oh, what a bummer…” before mentioning with perfect execution: “Better run, motherfucker”, still gives me chills to this day. It’s one of those moments that you never forget on repeat spins, and this album has plenty of goosebump-raising thrills like this. “Goodbye, Good Riddance” is a great pop-punk track, which was the first single to be released from Poster Child, and signaled the exciting leaping off point from Survival In Motion. As Acorn continues down this familiar path, she still commands the song from beginning to end with great vocal control and poise as a songwriter.
”Sucker Punch” is an acoustic-guitar driven ballad that is dripping with heartache, as Acorn dives further into a fractured relationship turning toxic as she shares, “I’ve always thought, there was something a little off about you / But I let it go, it felt better not to know the whole truth / Yeah, I turned my face, to a fist full of rings / You took a cheap shot, I let you swing / I went down, swore I’d come up black and blue / But it turns out…” before getting deeper into the effects of this person who is making Taylor feel “beat up”. Sometimes we build a person up so high in our heads that when they don’t fulfill this vision it’s a bit too much to handle and process. Taylor Acorn explains this exact feeling perfectly, and she provides another all-time vocal performance as well.
Other songs like “Vertigo” find Acorn explaining how these relationships have her spiraling out of control, wondering where to turn to next, while “Theme Park” takes a childhood nostalgia dive, much like “Home Videos” did. On “Theme Park”, Acorn begins to get back to a healthier relationship as she explains the high of falling into a great situation as she swoons, “You turn my heart to a theme park / Your love’s hands up, I’m free fallin’ / I get that hit of adrenaline / You make me feel just like a kid again.” It’s great to see that Taylor comes out of the toxicity of past failed relationships a better person in the end, and the story being told on Poster Child is an important tale of self-growth. By the time you reach the album closer of “Masquerade” you’ve likely come to the same conclusion as me: Taylor Acorn is one of the best songwriters making music today. Her ability to tie in her life experiences into slick pop-punk hooks filled with plenty of lyrical substance is a talent that cannot be understated. To me, Taylor Acorn is the Poster Child of what a powerful songwriter should sound like today.