Since the release of their EP ‘You’re Welcome’ 19 long months ago, Lambrini Girls have been on something of a riotous whirlwind, playing just about here, there, and everywhere, and with their infectious sound and unrelenting politics, it should come as no surprise that their debut album ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’ has been so highly anticipated.
The album is one filled with fiery politics at its forefront, and opening track ‘Bad Apple’ dives in at the deep end. Initiating the listener with blaring sirens and distorted bass, before splintering into a raging breakbeat as vocalist Phoebe Lunny proceeds to tear down the British police force, ensuring that no issue or problem with the institution is left undiscussed.
To accompany the scathing lyricism that Lunny lays down throughout the album, the instrumentals of each track can be equally as ferocious. It certainly seems as though bassist Lilly Macieira has grown increasingly more confident, with a willingness to explore a breadth of styles that helps to diversify each track from the others.
The anger on display in the opener doesn’t dissipate soon either, ‘Company Culture’ discusses the gross actions of men in professional environments, while ‘Big Dick Energy’ tackles men that pose as caring about women’s issues, but as a ruse to try and make themselves more attractive..
While the album on its surface is so outwardly aggressive, there are layers of introspection that show a new level of depth to the duo’s writing, from the battle to express queerness in such a volatile, queerphobic society on ‘No Homo’, the narration of a battle with an eating disorder on ‘Nothing Tastes As Good As It Feels’, or the experiences of trying to fit in with an undiagnosed condition on “Special, Different‘. There’s certainly a laundry list of issues in the big wide world for the duo to shout about, but this storytelling about how these issues ultimately have a knock-on effect on our lives helps to make the album incredibly accessible and relatable, even more so than some of their previous work.
For all of the album’s anger, the album does have a humorous underbelly, almost designed to help relieve some of the crushing weight held by the topics that the duo frequent, but this wit and humour is well-balanced, and does well not trivialise the severity of these issues either. This desire to remain humorous and silly all comes to fruition in the album’s closing track ‘Cuntology 101′, which sets out to establish how “cunty” (complimentary) looking after yourself and your needs can be.
Akin to their namesake, Lambrini Girls can be somewhat tough to digest for the uninitiated, but Who Let The Dogs Out is a serious punk album that does well to remain witty and smart even when faced with the world’s biggest issues. It should and hopefully will put the duo right at the forefront of modern punk trailblazers,
