Album of the Week: WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA

Our second annual Record Club Summer Homework blog project starts next week. You were asked to vote. You were asked to choose an album. You were asked to mark on your calendar which album reviews you are obligated to compose. Even if you were asked all these things and did none of them, that's okay. More emails are on their way to remind you about Record Club! This never ends! Not until one of us is dead! Long live Record Club!!!!!

Record Club:

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choose | writing

WEEK 381 — May 17-23, 2026

WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA

by Slayyyter

LISTEN:

Spotify | YouTube | Bandcamp | Apple

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PICKED BY JOE

JOE'S PITCH: Officially, I'm pitching this as "picking the one album that lost the RC Summer Poll that I wish didn't." Charli XCX won the "pop music right now" category, and that's pretty fair. But unofficially, I was rooting for Slayyyter. I probably would not have heard of her if it wasn't for the intimate PoYB connection (see "mentions on the blog" section below). Even then, I wouldn't have cared, except for the fact that Slayyyter is somehow getting some of the most positive press of any artist in 2026 so far. My boy Tom Breihan on Stereogum is out here saying it's his favorite album of the year right now! And I'm like, whaaaaaaat, you mean the fucking "daddy af" chick?!?! RC needs to investigate, right now.

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ALBUM DETAILS

GENRE: Electropop, electroclash, electro house, French electro, electro-industrial, dance-pop, new rave, midtempo bass

RELEASED: March 27, 2026

LENGTH: 42:17

TRACKLIST:

1. DANCE...
2. BEAT UP CHANEL$
3. CANNIBALISM!
4. OLD TECHNOLOGY
5. CRANK
6. GAS STATION
7. YES GODDD
8. UNKNOWN LOVERZ
9. OLD FLING$
10. I'M ACTUALLY KINDA FAMOUS
11. $T. LOSER
12. WHAT IS IT LIKE, TO BE LIKED?
13. *PRAYER*
14. BRITTANY MURPHY.

LYRICS: GENIU$.COM

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ARTIST DETAILS

PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

ABOUT: Catherine Grace Garner was born on September 17, 1996, in Kirkwood, Missouri. She is known professionally as Slayyyter, which is a reference to the Dazed and Confused character Slater. Her first public appearance was a performance of "Push It to the Limit" by Corbin Bleu for a middle school talent show. She dropped out of college to make music. She used Stan Twitter to start to build a base. Most of her early fans were Charli XCX stans; she would eventually tour with Charli in 2019. She was based in L.A. for her entire career, but in late 2025 moved to Brooklyn. She is a self-avowed cinephile, and her favorite director is David Lynch.

DISCOGRAPHY: Slayyyter's first major release was a 2019 self-titled mixtape. Her studio album debut was 2021's Troubled Paradise, followed by 2023's Starfucker. WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA is her third and most recent album.

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ADDITIONAL INFO

READING SOME SHIT: a March 2026 interview with Them, which proposes that "Slayyyter" is just a character that the artist plays

WATCHING SOME SHIT: "BEAT UP CHANEL$" live at Coachella 2026

RECORD CLUB CONNECTIONS: Slayyyter has said that this persona is a Britney Spears impersonation, and she has also covered Britney Spears. She named Lady Gaga as an inspiration for this album, and has covered Gaga in the past as well. Gorillaz was another influence named, though no Gorillaz covers could be found. They weren't named specifically, and neither was the genre they operate within (hyperpop), but clearly by the looks of the album cover and reputation, Slayyyter must have crossed paths with 100 gecs at some point. 100 gecs mentee Rebecca Black collaborated with Slayyyter on a song called "Read My Mind," which is both the name of a Killers song and the name of the Reba album that we covered. She was also on Charli XCX remix called "Click" with Kim Petras, who was featured on the big hit from Sam Smith's Gloria.

This is our third girl, after U.S. Girls and Girls. In honor of the 250th anniversary of America, this is our third America, after American and American Trappist. That reminds me, the movie that Slater is in, Dazed and Confused, takes place on May 28, 1976. So that means that two Thursday from now, it will be 50 years since that movie took place. I wonder if Slayyyter will be joining me in a rewatch of our favorite movie.

MENTIONS ON THE BLOG: Okay, so the first time that I ever registered the existence of Slayyyter was Maeve's June 2023 SSC post about "Daddy AF." That made a pretty big impression on everyone, including Pat (who claimed it was AI), Nate (who chose another Slayyyter song the following year), and me, when I made Maeve's YSC birthday prompt a reference to "Daddy AF." Let's crank these numbers up and make Slayyyter one of the most mentioned artists on this blog.

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COUNTDOWN:

69 Weeks Until Week 420

We are tracking and counting down every week from here on out till Record Club Week 420. We started this countdown 69 weeks out. During Record Club Week 420, we will be covering Donny Most by the esteemed Happy Days virgin Donny Most. The goal for Week 420 of Record Club is that it will feature 69 reviews from 69 different people. 

THIS WEEK: We are 39 weeks away from Week 420.

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Happy listening, RC family!
Have a great week!