Photo by Leila Simpson

Artist: Ken Park, the songwriting moniker of Liam Creamer

Location: Brooklyn, New York-via-San Diego, California

Buzz: It’s been a minute since we met an artist whose first impression left you with no clue as to where their sound is going, but it sure is going to be interesting hearing it move into whichever direction it does. For Liam Creamer, the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to crafting apartment-born noise-pop (for a lack of better descriptors) proves to be just the creative magic to formally spark your career. As Ken Park (a homage to the 2022 film of the same name about a group of rebellious California teenagers,) he’s at the center of that certain whirlwind era in life where youth and adulthood begin to collide while you’re doing your best to figure shit out. Aftershocks of nostalgia begin to creak in, and yet, there’s still a lot left to wonder through the wide-eyed ‘gaze of what the future might hold — for better or for worse.

Six songs make up the Brooklyn-based songwriter’s debut EP, and they all tell a different story in who Ken Park is, melding together a memory blast in feedback form from across a span of years dating back to teenagerdom. It doubles as something akin to an audio document in Creamer’s own growing pains, beginning with the decibel overload of “Maybe Delete” and its melted pop counterpart “Shatter”. It’s after that loud entry in which Ken Park begins to come into his own, with “Dragonfly” being an almost-beautiful lo-fi pop ballad if not for the heavy scraping effects peeling away your eardrums. You were just warned about those growing pains, after all…

In its back half, however, “Crawl” and “Nosebleed” respectively imagine a timeline where Animal Collective and Alex G came of age and influencer during this new wave of nu-gaze (and for all we know, Creamer has, too.) And yet, closer “Sleep Paralysis” puts the album to rest quietly through a beguiling, eerie fingerpicking harmony with the spirit of Elliott Smith. If this is growing up, then Ken Park has had the best kind of company along the way with his creative thoughts leaving a positive mark on where he’s going with it all.

Sound: A corroded digital footprint of your evolving listening habits in alternative and experimental indie rock between the ages of 16 and 22.

Highlights: “Maybe Delete”, “Dragonfly”, and “Sleep Paralysis” from his newly-released self-titled debut EP

Ken Park’s Ken Park is available now on TODO Records.