Few rising stars of late have made a splash in the music scene here as loudly and swiftly as Kat Lock. Savvy local music fans will have undoubtedly heard a fervent buzz around the name, thanks to both a loyal Gen Z fanbase and a gamut of enthusiastic press she’s received over and over and over again this year.
That’s because an artist like Kat Lock doesn’t come along every day. Far more than a pretty face with a pretty voice, she has proven to be a shrewd artist in her own right since going solo after the demise of her first band, St. Basic. Her acclaimed new debut EP, You Again, is a brilliant, confident bunch of songs that couldn’t have come from anyone else.
With collaborators at the ready, she steers the ship of her creative endeavors with inspired musical decisions and bullseye songwriting that captures the complications of relationship dynamics in clever, funny, and all-too-relatable ways. Where many transform personal drama into musical melodrama, Lock instead chooses to laugh along and roll with the punches.
This produces fun results like the brand new music video for “Biggest Mistake”, the lead single from You Again. It dropped today, and can be viewed via the player below in this Make Oklahoma Weirder exclusive premiere.
Part plotted symbolism and part spontaneous goofballery, the music video is sure to not take itself too seriously. For a song about recklessly taking the leap into the next stage of a relationship while acknowledging the warning signs, it’s a fitting tone.
Visual gags during the more story-centric parts like the misspelled tattoo and the bouquet of literal red flags are inspired, memorable, and chuckle-worthy. They convey elements of the lyrics without being too literal while reflecting the seemingly contradictory notion that bad ideas can sometimes be fun in spite of later regrets.
Meanwhile, another half of the video involves merely a blank screen featuring Kat Lock, supporting vocalists Mackenzie Fox & Sophia Massad, and a handful of friends & musicians acting off the cuff. One can guess that flossing was not in the pre-production notes. While all of the horsing around and mugging at the camera is fun in itself, it also serves to echo the impulsiveness of the song’s topic.
Perhaps due to budget constraints, the unscripted projector screen parts do get far more screen time than the more theatrical story parts, which is a shame since those story parts are so good.
Nonetheless, “Biggest Mistake” remains a bright, catchy number in both song and video, and it’s one that provides a little food for thought, too, about life’s blissful indulgences.
Kat Lock will no doubt have “Biggest Mistake” in rotation at her next full band show, which happens this Saturday at Resonator in Norman. She’ll be joined by The Sweet Talkers and Santiago Ramones as part of a handpicked lineup curated by musician and music blogger Reece Carmen for his birthday. All ages are welcome, the cover is $5, and it all gets started around 7 pm. It’d be a mistake to miss it.
