Pansy began as Vivian McCall’s bedroom project. A pink bedroom, large enough to fit a recording console, a bed, a desk, and drums if she pushed the armchair into the living room, that she happens to miss very much.


But way before that, she criss-crossed the country with Chicago’s Jungle Green, an off-kilter retro pop lucky enough to recorded with Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado, who told her that if she wanted to record an album, she ought to buy a Tascam-488, which she did.

At first, Pansy was a lo-fi, mostly solo affair, to record raw songs onto that machine with a box of mics she bought on Craigslist. The songs were flowing because she’d recently come out as trans, and, as most trans people will tell you, the first few months of transition seriously suck. The result, after about a year of touch-and-go work, was a nine-song, self-titled pop record that took inspiration from The Magnetic Fields, Liz Phair, and Chris Knox. To Vivian’s honest shock, it was reviewed by Paste, The Chicago Reader, and more.

Then, Vivian moved to Seattle and Pansy took on new life as a real band. Currently, Pansy is Vivian, guitarist Liz Perlman, drummer MJ Harbarger, and bassist Vincent Sagisi. In 2025, Pansy released the power pop-ish Skin Graft EP. The band is working on new music and hopes to share it with you soon.

-Pansy, Seattle, Washington, 2026


PRAISE FOR PANSY

✦ “Lead single “Mercy, Kill Me” is one of the best successors to “Sparky’s Dream” I’ve encountered recently. But “Mercy, Kill Me” isn’t just excellent pop-rock, it’s a lyrical balm for trans folks looking for a story like their own… The song feasts on a hook you’d need a lobotomy to forget.” [Paste]

✦ “[Skin Graft] is a strong set of classic indie rock with a power-pop touch that closes out with a pair of more tender, sparse, folky tunes.” [KEXP]

✦ “Seattle power-pop janglers resurrect mercurial guitar, big melodies, and oceanic dynamics as heirs of Big Star, Boston and Gin Blossoms… They seem in no hurry to release an album but check this out in the hope it gives them a nudge.” [NZListener]

✦ “Pansy makes every note count on one of the year’s standout short-format releases” [Add to Want List]

✦“‘Dark Star’ finds the band settling in for a simmering, folk-tinged slow-burn, letting the track gradually transform from a solitary confessional into a spikey and turbulent storm of guitar feedback… The results are equal parts anxious and entrancing, bolstering McCall’s elliptical song structure with sweeping and satisfying waves of distortion.” [Under the Radar Mag]

✦ “Ultimately, this EP serves as a grower, likely to resonate with a profound sense of meaning for anyone willing to invest time in it.” [JanglePopHub]

✦ “Really striking power pop songs are few and far between of late, but the best ones I’ve been listening to come from Pansy.” [Austin Town Hall]

✦ “Pansy: an intimate and ultimately playful look at what it means to understand yourself, this lo-fi record reaches out for reason and finds its own hand.” [Secret Meeting]

✦ “The hush description of discontent in McCall’s voice lends to its lo-fi bedroom lullaby sound; the drifting synthesizer melodies, mixed with varying track speeds off McCall’s Tascam 488 tape machine, emit the sensation of floating.” [Riot Fest]

✦ “Listening to the album feels like being home for the fall holidays ––it’s jarring and eye-opening, but also comforting and familiar. It’s like walking on the cobblestone of your college campus and finally being happy with the life you have created for yourself.” [Heart Eyes Magazine]

✦ “Through Pansy, McCall shares how she reconnected with herself throughout her transition, and parses the highs and lows of embracing her vulnerability.” [Also Cool Magazine]

✦ “Influenced by the raw textures of lofi-punk, multi-instrumentalist and producer Pansy walks the line between profound honesty and simplistic spontaneity.” [Basement Magazine]

✦ “Pansy’s new track “Woman of Ur Dreams” is wonderfully jangly and well structured to effervesce soulful and spellbinding sound. Recorded on vintage equipment to tape, the lo fi sound is solidified and visceral.” [American Pancake]

✦ “The track shines with enchanting and sincere melodies and a nostalgic pop hit vibe.” [Grotesqualizer’s Choice Capsule]

✦ “Vivian McCall nibbles at Surf rock , grabs at post-punk and engulfs it all in spindly, anxious jangled riffs.” [JanglePopHub]

✦ “Just imagine a really young Elvis hanging out and recording in a bedroom on a 4 track, and well, that’s what you get here…” [Austin Town Hall]

✦ “Production-wise the song is left out of time with no clear indicator as to what era it might belong to. Simple drumming and clear, folky guitar lines weave throughout the song. The Velvet Underground may not have sold many records, but they are continuing to inspire outstanding new artists.” [In a world without Lou Reed]

✦ “Hints—blending the apparent if not disparate influences of The Magnetic Fields and Sonny Smith filtered through the language of ’60s pop-rock—there’s an undeniable sense of comfort in these recordings.” [Flood Magazine]

✦ “The long standing member of Jungle Green has taken off on her own to continue the genre exploration and invention as a bad ass solo musician.” [Chicago Crowd Surfer]