Florencia by Friends of Cesar Romero
Tracklist
| 1. | Florencia | 2:00 |
Credits
released June 24, 2025
_________________________________________
©2025 Fluorescent Brown Publishing (BMI)
Produced by Zach Hollander
Recorded & Mixed @ The Pearl Jr., Minneapolis, MN.
Mastered @ Aural Anonymity, RC, SD.
Annie Sparrows: vocals
Zachary Hollander: guitars
J. Waylon: guitars, bass, drums, vocals
TO FLOR WITH LOVE, FOREVER
REVIEWS:
It’s time to check in on the great J. Waylon Porcupine and his Friends of Cesar Romero power pop project. If you’re already familiar with the prolific South Dakota-based act, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that they had a busy June–we saw a new EP called All Goodbyes Aren’t Bad Cause This Goodbye Is for Good, the two-song “Can’t Get You” single, and the one-off “Florencia”. There are several winners among this recent crop (check out “Summer Boyfriend” from the EP too) but “Florencia” is my favorite of them by a wide margin. It’s unsubtle, collar-grabbing, punked-up power pop for all of its wrecking-ball two minutes. It’s a feverish paean to the titular character (who “love[s] The Smiths and anarchy”, among other things).
ROSY/OVERDRIVE
Man, I'm doing a really bad job at being a Friends of Cesar Romero super-fan! I last reviewed the band on June 14th and was apparently asleep when it released new music on two occasions later in the month. And then in came another single while I was on vacation this week. So let's catch up. The digital single "Florencia" is #46 in the Doomed Babe Series, and it's a loud and tremendously catchy power pop rocker with amazing lyrics that say more in two minutes than some novels do in hundreds of pages. J. Waylon writes songs like this so well that you might be tempted to take it for granted. But please don't! If you need Exhibit A to demonstrate why Friends of Cesar Romero is one of the best bands out there, crank "Florencia" at full blast and marvel at some masters' class power pop! "Empress of the South Pole," released earlier this week, is a two-track digital single and #47 in the Doomed Babe Series. Lead track "Like Extracting Teeth From The Jaws Of Death" is a kick-ass garage rocker that digs deep into the pain of loving someone who just can't stop jerking you around. Man, you can really feel the pain in this one. It lives up to its title for sure. On the digital flipside, the title track is a jangly pop song exploring a situation where the heartbreak is mutual but there's hope of starting over. The optimist in me believes that perhaps this particular babe isn't so doomed. Then again, in the Friends of Cesar Romero universe, happy endings are rare. And guess what? "Empress of the South Pole" and "Florencia" were actually preceded by All Goodbyes Aren't Bad Cause This Goodbye Is For Good, which was # 45 1/2 in the Doomed Babe Series. Three of the songs on the EP were previously released on Bandcamp but not on the streaming sites. They've been remastered and bundled with a new song called "Finish Him," which cleverly uses the brutality of Mortal Combat as a metaphor for the devastation of heartbreak. The "new old" songs on the EP are "Summer Boyfriend," "Longing Heart Condition," and "Rebound Baby." If you're not familiar with these tunes (or even if you are), I highly recommend adding this EP to your FOCR collection. And if you don't already have a FOCR collection, what in the world are you waiting for?!
-LORD RUTLEDGE
_________________________________________
©2025 Fluorescent Brown Publishing (BMI)
Produced by Zach Hollander
Recorded & Mixed @ The Pearl Jr., Minneapolis, MN.
Mastered @ Aural Anonymity, RC, SD.
Annie Sparrows: vocals
Zachary Hollander: guitars
J. Waylon: guitars, bass, drums, vocals
TO FLOR WITH LOVE, FOREVER
REVIEWS:
It’s time to check in on the great J. Waylon Porcupine and his Friends of Cesar Romero power pop project. If you’re already familiar with the prolific South Dakota-based act, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that they had a busy June–we saw a new EP called All Goodbyes Aren’t Bad Cause This Goodbye Is for Good, the two-song “Can’t Get You” single, and the one-off “Florencia”. There are several winners among this recent crop (check out “Summer Boyfriend” from the EP too) but “Florencia” is my favorite of them by a wide margin. It’s unsubtle, collar-grabbing, punked-up power pop for all of its wrecking-ball two minutes. It’s a feverish paean to the titular character (who “love[s] The Smiths and anarchy”, among other things).
ROSY/OVERDRIVE
Man, I'm doing a really bad job at being a Friends of Cesar Romero super-fan! I last reviewed the band on June 14th and was apparently asleep when it released new music on two occasions later in the month. And then in came another single while I was on vacation this week. So let's catch up. The digital single "Florencia" is #46 in the Doomed Babe Series, and it's a loud and tremendously catchy power pop rocker with amazing lyrics that say more in two minutes than some novels do in hundreds of pages. J. Waylon writes songs like this so well that you might be tempted to take it for granted. But please don't! If you need Exhibit A to demonstrate why Friends of Cesar Romero is one of the best bands out there, crank "Florencia" at full blast and marvel at some masters' class power pop! "Empress of the South Pole," released earlier this week, is a two-track digital single and #47 in the Doomed Babe Series. Lead track "Like Extracting Teeth From The Jaws Of Death" is a kick-ass garage rocker that digs deep into the pain of loving someone who just can't stop jerking you around. Man, you can really feel the pain in this one. It lives up to its title for sure. On the digital flipside, the title track is a jangly pop song exploring a situation where the heartbreak is mutual but there's hope of starting over. The optimist in me believes that perhaps this particular babe isn't so doomed. Then again, in the Friends of Cesar Romero universe, happy endings are rare. And guess what? "Empress of the South Pole" and "Florencia" were actually preceded by All Goodbyes Aren't Bad Cause This Goodbye Is For Good, which was # 45 1/2 in the Doomed Babe Series. Three of the songs on the EP were previously released on Bandcamp but not on the streaming sites. They've been remastered and bundled with a new song called "Finish Him," which cleverly uses the brutality of Mortal Combat as a metaphor for the devastation of heartbreak. The "new old" songs on the EP are "Summer Boyfriend," "Longing Heart Condition," and "Rebound Baby." If you're not familiar with these tunes (or even if you are), I highly recommend adding this EP to your FOCR collection. And if you don't already have a FOCR collection, what in the world are you waiting for?!
-LORD RUTLEDGE
