Rivkah Reyes is back with “Menace,” a gloriously messy queer anthem about returning to the ex you already know is bad for you.
Remember Katie, the quietly cool bassist from School of Rock? More than 20 years later, Rivkah Reyes is still making music. Now, she is doing it in Brooklyn, singing about queer situationships and helping rooms full of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers learn to line dance.
Honestly, this trajectory makes perfect sense.
Reyes, a Brooklyn-based musician, actor and filmmaker, just released “Menace,” a loud, cheeky song about knowing you are making a bad decision and doing it anyway. It also comes with news of her debut EP, Fan Favorite, arriving November 6.
She describes the music as “sapphic doomcore situationship bangers,” which is both extremely specific and probably enough information to know if you are about to become a fan.
“Menace” is about going back to the ex you already promised yourself you were done with. The song was inspired by a real rooftop hookup involving a red bikini, blue Gatorade and Billy Joel’s “Vienna.” Reyes knew it was a terrible idea. She did it anyway. At least the rest of us got a song out of it.
“It’s a song about running back to someone you once used like a drug after swearing you’d quit them for good,” Reyes said in a statement.
Reyes is open about being in recovery and recognizing the ways one addiction can sometimes be replaced with another. On “Menace,” that honesty comes wrapped in huge guitars, humor and the kind of romantic chaos that is destined for the group chat. The sound pulls from artists like Hayley Williams, Olivia Rodrigo and The Beaches, landing somewhere between bubblegrunge, emo pop and lesbian rock.
“Menace” is one of six tracks on Fan Favorite. The EP also includes previously released singles “Miss Congeniality” and “Debt Collector,” plus a song called “Katie” that nods to the character Reyes played in School of Rock.
The title Fan Favorite is not only about being liked. The songs dig into the messier question of what happens when you spend so much time wanting other people to choose you that you forget to choose yourself.
“Every song is a different flavor of wanting to be chosen, and learning that maybe being everyone’s fan favorite isn’t the same thing as loving yourself,” Reyes said.
If you spend time in NYC’s queer scene, you may already know Reyes from somewhere other than the screen. Alongside Sugarfoot, she co-founded Buck Wild, a queer line-dancing party that mixes country classics with girly pop, R&B and pop-punk favorites. They teach beginner-friendly dances at events around the city and recently brought Buck Wild to the Williamsburg waterfront for a free outdoor party.
New York makes its way into Reyes’ music, too. The video for “Debt Collector,” her breakup song about continuing to emotionally pay for a relationship after it ends, was filmed on a vintage camcorder at Coney Island. It is playful, romantic and a little chaotic, much like the music itself.
Reyes has never really stopped performing. Since playing Katie, she has continued working as an actor, musician, filmmaker and comedian. Her recent credits include One of Them Days, Netflix’s The Merry Gentlemen and Gianna, a queer horror-comedy short she wrote and starred in alongside Margaret Cho.
But Fan Favorite gives us the clearest sense yet of who Reyes is when she gets to lead the whole thing: queer, funny, self-aware and willing to turn even her most questionable decisions into a banger.
“Menace” is out now. Rivkah Reyes’ debut EP, Fan Favorite, arrives November 6.
