Every now and then there’s a song that stops me in my tracks when I encounter it. “Crazy Stupid Love” by the brother-sister duo Alexandra John (twins Liza and Weston Cain) is just one of those cuts. It’s an uplifting song about the complexities of love with cross-genre sensibilities, loaded with hooks, boundless energy, and great singing.
It starts out with a baroque pop piano movement before the disco kicks in with Liza’s commanding vocals taking us through an energetic declaration about the wild things we do for love and why it’s sometimes worth it, even if things don’t work out in the end. That climaxes into a closing section slathered with a searing guitar solo from somewhere between 1980s metal and prog rock. It’s got modern production, to be sure, but the song’s true vintage is in the realm of the late ’70s to late ’80s. They mentioned in press materials that they were inspired by John Hughes films and “’80s space rock,” which is quite clear on this song. The sonics definitely suggest the type of journey your typical Hughesian teen experiences in, for example, Pretty In Pink.
The particular chord progression, melody, and ’80s posture they use on “Crazy Stupid Love” could have ended up too cheesy and too trope-polluted in the wrong hands. Go too far down the wrong path and you get a generic theme song to a generic ’80s sitcom or some third-rate mall pop. Ultimately, however, the Cain twins deftly avoid this by adhering to emotional authenticity in their lyrics and building an enticing musical blend centered on nostalgia-tinged modernity. What this all means is that they are definitely a duo to watch (and listen to).
(Interesting trivia: Liza recorded her vox in Nashville on an old mic from CBS Studios that Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan, and Barbra Streisand all used at one point or another, according to press materials.)
The single is out now in some of your favorite spots. You can also check out the song on Spotify, YouTube (video is also below), and Apple Music. For more information about Alexandra John, head over to their website. There is also a bunch of songs, videos, and other fare on their Linktree.
