Mitski: Your Best American Girl SXSW 2016, NPR MUSIC FRONT ROW

We have the benefit of hindsight when it comes to 1950s and 60s pop music. Songs about motorcycle crashes and broken hearts sound quaint now, but the sweet harmonies and fouronthefloor beats reflected real anxieties of teens and twentysomethings. Mitski Miyawaki who records under her first name makes music that looks to that era, both in style and substance. The 25yearold Brooklyn songwriter channels the pop reflection of everyday trauma. This is realness, often riddled with feedback, but more o