PACIFICA - IN YOUR FACE
Photo by by Jaxon Whittington
Pacifica’s In Your Face is scintillating. True to its title, the Argentine rock duo delivers one of the most authentic manifestations of youth in recent memory.
It’s hard to imagine indie sleaze as anything other than cigarette burns, shaky MySpace videos, and Pete Doherty looking rough somewhere in Camden. Pacifica, however, drags it into a new age with cleaner wounds and better jeans. Key to this is Inés Adam’s slurred yet charismatic vocals, which exude a magnetic swagger and inject a flirtatious energy that gives the record its edge.
In Your Face opens with the playful, punchy lead single ‘What You Doing’, followed by the more suave, reflective breakup track ‘Fixer Upper’. Both songs feel like a natural progression from the band’s debut, Freak Scene, while carrying a sense of relational tension that sets the stage for a gritty night out teetering on the edge of chaos. The thrashy ‘Indie Boyz’ then anthemically bring the duo’s newfound sleaze to the table.
Sensually delivered verses narrate the simple pleasure of taking a man home, before the possessive hook – “You’re my Tenants superstar” – radiates the song’s undeniable girlboss energy and catapults into one of 2025’s catchiest choruses. Not to be outdone, Martina Nintzel’s bass is propulsive and gives ‘Indie Boyz’ its irresistible drive.
The album’s greatest strength lies in its cataclysmic highs, where its inherent euphoria erupts and spills over into something wild and transcendent. For example, when “This place is on fire / Our tongues are burning” leads into the infectious, headbanging chorus of ‘Don’t Blame Me,’ as Adams cries the song’s title alongside “and if you ask me, I try to deny it, baby.”
This sentiment carries through into ‘Mine’, which takes In Your Face’s raw, unfeigned youthfulness into the bedroom, with a captivating chorus that declares: “I wanna make you cum, show me how you like it / I wanna hear your voice screaming out my name / […] / I wanna make you mine.” This youthfulness is what makes Pacifica so compelling.
Inés Adams and Martina Nintzel met on Instagram in 2021, sharing a mutual love for The Strokes. They formed Pacifica soon after, gaining traction through YouTube covers and their Pacifica Thursdays livestreams before releasing their debut single, ‘With or Without You,’ in 2023. That was quickly followed by Freak Scene and a European and North American tour, alongside support slots with Franz Ferdinand, Måneskin, and Louis Tomlinson.
Freak Scene was soft, vulnerable, and the perfect introduction to the duo. In Your Face takes all of that to a new level: the vulnerability now meets a bold, confident edge, giving a more honest and unfiltered expression of their youth. Their signature joint harmonies create something both electrifying and cathartic.
The record continues in this vein as we hit the title track ‘In Your Face’, a measured, almost taunting exploration of vindication and pride. The song balances revenge and lingering attachment, showcasing the push-pull of personal triumph and unresolved emotion, pushing the listener closer to the headspace of the album’s intimate closer.
The acoustic finale, ‘Wasted a Drunk’, reflects on romantic frustration late into the night: “I wasted a drunk / And now I can’t even remember why I wanted to talk,” paired with “I try to get in your bed, but we don’t even understand each other.” Its stripped-back arrangement, punctuated by whistling, captures the relatable tension of miscommunication while providing a bittersweet send-off to the album’s successfully authentic experience.
Josh Parsonage
★★★★☆