Ricki is the New Queen Of Garage Rock n Roll
If there were any justice in this world, Fantasy, the debut record from Nashville-based Ricki, should be the first LP to become the Coolest Album In The World on Little Steven’s Underground Garage channel. To narrow it down to just one song doesn’t do this homemade blast of trash-pop just isn’t fair. Pick a tune, any tune. Doesn’t matter to me, they are all great.
Written, recorded and performed entirely by Ricki on a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder that she rebuilt in her apartment, Fantasy is the most DIY of all DIY projects. And the least AI of all AI projects. This record is humanity as heard through a fuzzbox.
But while it’s conception is interesting, how it was made means nothing. It rocks because it rocks. Lo-Fi, Hi-Fi or somewhere in between. Tell me Liam Gallagher produced it and the budget was three million dollars and it still packs a concise punch like nothing else in the year 2026.
I might add it is surprising to see such an organic project to rise out of Music City USA; where commerce, multi co-writes and constant social media “content” are the name of the game. Sure there is one co-write, with the extremely talented Aaron Lee Tasjan, but considering that Morgan Wallen had 48 writers on his record I think you get my gist.
This record was done by Ricki, for Ricki. Isn’t that the way all timeless garage-rock has been made? Can somebody give me a “Wooly Bully”? Or put another way, Ricki doesn’t even put her website or any social media information on her record. If you want some of her, you are going to have to work for it. I do and I did. Visit at Rickixo.com
So quit saying there isn’t any real rock n roll out there anymore. Let me take a huge guess..the “real” rock n roll to which you are referring coincidentally also happened to be the tunes you were blasting when you were 16-24 years old, getting laid for the first time and partying 6 nights a week. Yes, nostalgia is a powerful thing. I get it, me too. But that’s only half the story, great rock n roll has no respect for time. It appears whenever it feels like it. This stunning debut record from Ricki is similar in the way that it could be enjoyed in any decade. Put it next to Little Richard, The Rolling Stones, Grand Funk, Tom Petty, Grandpaboy or any Jack White project and it could hold its own. Crank it up. All Hail Ricki, the new queen of garage rock.