Like a more telegenic John Waters—and with a much better singing voice—Celene Ramadan plays the bouffant 1950s, not for their wholesome optimism but for their kooky aesthetics and latent sexual repression. With her band Prom Queen, she sets her new album, Doom Wop, in an alt-’50s, recognizable in the music’s coquettish lead vocals, girl-group backing and classically oriented songwriting and skewed by Ramadan’s of-the-moment social anxiety. The result is a collection of songs that feel both innocent and exhausted, saccharine and dangerous—almost too much fun.
Today we’re psyched to premiere the video for the album’s sugar-addictive lead single, “Blonde.” Directed by Ramadan and spiked with post-millennial tension and self-aware humor, it feels like an update of Hairspray, as Ramadan pals around her bedroom with a pair of drag queens and, after much soul-searching and wig-trying, eventually goes the way of the song’s title. “I wanna give the world/So much more than just a girl/Who’s trapped inside her heavy head/And can’t get herself out of bed,” Ramadan coos at the song’s finale. You gotta admire the woman’s ambition even as it climaxes with a trip to the salon.
Prom Queen celebrates the release of Doom Wop this Saturday, Sept. 23, with a show and pizza party at the Piranha Shop. Until then, enjoy the video below and try to get this song out of your head.
