Tarah Who? Drops “Supposedly a Man”

Raining down on us with sonic daggers as thick as they are crushingly sharp, the chorus in Tarah Who?’s “Supposedly a Man” has a lot of heat to throw in our direction, but it’s not the lone instance in the song where this duo is giving us everything with special melodic ribbonry to boot. Tarah Who? have been making the business of resurrecting the alternative rock standard from the low-dwelling place it’s fallen to in recent times, and in their latest single, I think they make it clearer than ever how important getting to the top of the mountain is to their brand. This isn’t a crew that cares much for the lighter side of pop/rock. It’s all guts and glory in these heavy-rocking grooves, and “Supposedly a Man” might just be their best song yet. 

We start off much as we finish in this single, which is to say that at no point are we met with the kind of perpetual melodic filler that often separates quality lyrics with smart beats. There’s nothing but incredible strength emanating from the string section here, and although there’s rarely a moment in which the guitars aren’t controlling the narrative even more than any lyrics ever could on their own, it doesn’t hurt or bastardize the mood of the verses at all – the polar opposite, quite frankly. Tarah Who? know how to make everything from the guitar parts to the rhythm reinforce the theme they’re going for in a song, and that’s undeniable after listening to this most recent offering. 

Unlike some of their peers on both sides of the Atlantic at the moment, Tarah Who? aren’t stressing the experimental element in this single at all, but instead working the basic foundations of the hook as much as possible. There’s something really wrong with the world when doing something even slightly formulaic gets you labeled a retro rockstar in the making, and I won’t even begin to indulge such commentary when it comes to “Supposedly a Man,” mostly because its roots are so removed from its driving point that calling it a throwback doesn’t even make sense. The energy is too crisp here for this to be old-fashioned, and I think most of the rockers who give this a taste will share my sentiments. 

Straightforward, to the point, required listening is Tarah Who?’s “Supposedly a Man,” and whether you’re new to them or not, I have a feeling that if you dig true rock n’ roll you’re going to really appreciate what this duo is all about in this single. They’re not pulling punches when it comes to putting up something dynamically different than what the mainstream in rock is producing at the moment, and best of all, I don’t think they sound like they’re doing this solely for the purposes of separating themselves from their scene. They’re not ditching a community – they’re looking to lead a new one into the future, and that’s worth commending when it results in material as intriguing and accessible as “Supposedly a Man” is. 

Mindy McCall