“Nobody was born cool,” proclaims ROE KAPARA. “Where’s the fun in that?” After relocating from Nashville to Los Angeles just before the pandemic, the St. Louis-born singer/songwriter did what any reasonable 20-something would: find solace online and build a community. Soon, his burgeoning digital fanbase hit six digits, enthralled by his endearingly unpretentious personality but also by his irresistible music, a modern swirl of indie, psych, pop punk, and alternative. 

His debut single for the legendary Epitaph Records, “BETTER OFF,” elevates both qualities equally, spinning a hyper-relatable tale of toxic romance with razor-sharp lyricism (“I’m better off getting high than being naked with you” he sings in the song’s hook) over staccato guitar stabs, jazzy rhythms and spurting synths. 

“I had a long-distance relationship in college that … it was bad,” Kapara says with a laugh. “It was completely codependent. Looking back on it now, I realize that I’m better off because I experienced and learned from it.”

Dwelling on the death of his own past is a common theme through Kapara’s music, throughout a catalog of DIY singles like “Everyone’s Dying” and “Past Grow” that helped boost his Spotify listeners into the 300,000s and TikTok audience over 250,000. But just as he’s willing to expose vulnerable parts of himself in his songs, he’s quick to shine the mirror outward to address the creeping dread of modern life: consumerism, corporate greed, climate change – the general feelings of the younger generation in 21st-century America. 

“I had no intention to ever write any sort of anti-establishment songs,” admits Roe Kapara, the incisive songwriter hailing from Los Angeles by way of St. Louis. “I think it’s just the shock of living right now.” With half a million monthly Spotify listeners sharing his sense of hopelessness about the world they've inherited, Kapara translates the frustrations of coming of age in modern America into five sharp-witted songs on his EP Big Cigars and Satin Shorts. In this second release under Epitaph Records, Kapara marries a radical punk ethos with electrifying indie-rock spirit, offering a poignant reflection of how an entire generation of desensitized, bleeding-heart young people are feeling. 

Combining swelling choruses, plucky melodies, explosive riffs, and razor-sharp lyrics, Kapara confronts the absurdity of modern life with both humor and angst. Throughout the project, he passionately addresses wealth disparity, corporate greed, and the illusion of the American Dream. He gives voice to the mix of fury and despair that arises from witnessing friends, family, and generational peers be consistently let down by institutions with lofty promises. 

Kapara recognizes that even those rejecting the status quo, like himself, aren’t immune to societal pressures. His jaunty tune "Dumb" calls out the judgmental blows and subtle digs from family members trying to force conformity and instill feelings of inadequacy while he carves his own path and follows his dreams. Meanwhile, his project’s title track “Cigars and Satin Shorts” is influenced by watching compassionate youth raging against injustices, only to be blocked by the big wigs at the top. “Seeing people in my generation speak out about the environment, war, and corporations buying up all the houses, it feels like our efforts are often in vain,” he reflects.

Big Cigars and Satin Shorts continues riding the high of Kapara’s successful debut EP I Hope Hell Isn’t Real, which cemented Kapara as one of the most exciting new voices in alt-rock and earned him an opening EU tour slot with Rick Montgomery. But Kapara’s new project also marks a decisive move to show off a more vulnerable side of his songwriting, with tracks like the catchy misfit anthem “Hate Myself” and the macabre EP closer “The Dead Come Talking.” “There's a lot more songs that are closer to my heart on this project,” he says. “I was just not playing into whatever the internet told me to make.”