As much an art and pop culture project as it is a musical one…
Released by GMR Music on 15 June 2018 and reviewed by Ian Savage
Clear your mind. Forget any preconceptions you may have formed from reading the band name or album title. All is calm. All is zen.
Okay, so… this album is a collaboration of twelve female Swedish punk musicians to make an unashamedly feminist dirty rock record in the space of a weekend. Are you now thinking exactly what you were twenty seconds ago? Yeah, you’re probably right.
If you’re after an easy summer listen to play at a barbecue or during after-drinks and polite conversation, you might want to give this a swerve. It’s unapologetically angular, it’s angry, and it’s pretty much exactly what the world needs right now.
It’s also far from perfect (although to be perfect would surely take away from the point of the thing) – at times some overly obvious melodies and song structures betray the minuscule preparation time (‘Goodbye’, ‘Death’), at others programmed or under-produced drums lend songs an unnecessarily ‘demo’ feel (both of the aforementioned, ‘Fuck You’).
But when they hit it, they hit it hard. Dirty old-school opener ‘TerrorGirls’, the balls-out fun-punk of ‘Unicorn’, ode to masturbation ‘I Love To Love Myself’, zombie-feminist manifesto (THERE’S a description I never thought I’d type) ‘I Eat Boys Like For Breakfast’, to no-explanation-needed closer ’Grab ‘Em By The Pussy’…there’s a lot to be absorbed and enjoyed.
Not an easy listen, for sure (both in content and production terms), and with a few tracks that you’ll probably skip given time. As a statement of intent and a political message, though – full marks. Start a 2018 riot.
The RIOT GRRRLS are:
- Canan Rosén – Vocals, Guitar, Bass (Twin Pigs, Tiger Bell)
- Madeleine Frankki – Vocals, synth (Snake, Night Terror)
- Kajsa Grytt – Vocals, Guitar (Solo artist, Tant Grytt)
- Agnes Eriksson – Vocals, Guitar (Call Cat)
- Katja Lindeberg – synth (Haj 300, Drömfakulteten)
- Tess Törnqvist – Vocals, guitar, drums (Memoria, Snake)
- Klara Force – Vocals, Guitar (Ex- Crucified Barbara, The Heard)
- Frida Ståhl – bass, Vocals (The Baboon Show)
- Manuela De Gouveia – vocals, bass (Pascal)
- Nicki Wicked – Vocals, Drums (Ex-Crucified Barbara, The Heard)
- Maja Samuelsson – Vocals, Guitar (Heavy Tiger)
- Hanna Engström – Vocals, Drums (Satirnine)
Track list:
- Terrorgirls
- What I Want
- I Love To Love Myself
- Unicorn
- Sad And Weak
- My Grrrls
- Death
- I Love To Love Myself
- I Was The Only Hell My Mother Raised
- I’m Bored
- Fuck You
- I Eat Boys Like You For Breakfast
- Grab ‘Em By The Pussy
