Hospital Bracelet: South Loop Summer

South Loop Summer, the debut album from Hospital Bracelet, captures the ups and downs of what it’s like to be a late adolescent/early 20-something in society and follows the story of a young person’s summer experience. The album’s single, released December 1st, 2020, previewed the album perfectly, with lyrics “I wish that I could better understand why my life’s work is now gone at someone else’s hands.” The Chicago trio shows their personality through song titles such as “Sober Haha Jk Unless,” “Feral Rat Anthem,” and “Sheetz vs Wawa” paired with bouncy instrumentals, such as the introduction bass line in “Happy Birthday.” In typical Gen-Z fashion, however, some of these seemingly funny song titles have hard hitting lyrics behind them. Singer Eric Christopher talks about their longing to be sober, toxic things that they “just can’t take seriously,” and the devastation of not feeling like they are enough for someone. 

The album’s opening song and title track, “South Loop Summer,” has a movie-esque component that reminds you of driving with the windows down late at night in the summer with your friends. Christopher perfectly captures the reckless, who-cares energy one gets after school ends for the summer, singing “I’m gonna drop out of college soon / Do everything my mom said I shouldn’t do” and “It’s been a south loop summer, and I can’t think of literally any other way for me to spend the time I spend here dying and barely paying my rent.” In contrast, the album’s final track, “Summer Friends,” details the struggle of losing friends and trying to move on with life despite reminiscing on old memories. Christopher sings that “everything I’ve worked for will have a purpose whether you are here or not,” and tries to convince themself that everything will be ok.

Gaining around 7,000 new monthly Spotify listeners overnight after the release of “Happy Birthday,” Hospital Bracelet is bound to take off in 2021 with their perfect depiction of the young summer experience in South Loop Summer. The experience starts fun and full of life, gets tricky as we go along (even though we try to hide our troubles), and ultimately ends in sadness of this experience coming to an end.

South Loop Summer is available on all major streaming platforms.

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