It’s 3 p.m. on a Wednesday, and I’m smashing shit with Lambrini Women.
Singer and guitarist Phoebe Lunny lets out a guttural scream as she snaps a vase in two with a hammer. In the meantime, bassist Lilly Macieira goes at a TV that simply gained’t crack with an axe. We’re at Smash It Rage Rooms in Southeast London, one in all few such institutions within the metropolis, with the plan to listing grievances in regards to the music trade — one thing the Brighton-bred punk duo typically do of their songs, on social media and at gigs — whereas, nicely, smashing shit. However with heavy-duty protecting gear protecting our mouths and Limp Bizkit blaring within the background, it’s just about amounting to muffled yells.
Nonetheless, we’re having a grand outdated time. At one level, Lunny and I tee up for a kind of beer-bottle baseball: They pitch a glass at me and I shatter it into 100 items with my weapon of alternative. A couple of minutes later, we lastly break by the stiff TV and go away what appears like a pixelated bloodstain on its display screen. However ultimately, red-faced and drained, we resolve to exit the destruction — solely to search out we nonetheless have 10 minutes left in our half-hour slot. Seems, being filled with rage is exhausting.
Lambrini Women know a factor or two about that, having made their title within the U.Okay. music scene with fast-paced, considerably abrasive punk songs tackling a wide range of points, from misogyny to TERFs to homophobia. Raucous reside reveals, led by Lunny’s in-your-face efficiency model, have led to the band touring for the higher a part of 2024, together with stints within the U.S. and competition slots at Glastonbury and Iceland Airwaves.
Throughout our first interview in October 2023 after the discharge of Lambrini Women’ debut EP, “You’re Welcome,” I bear in mind Lunny saying that she extremely doubted they might ever play with a band like Idles, whose type of post-Brexit punk put renewed vitality behind the style and has resulted in 5 Grammy nominations. However in November, they have been Idles’ direct assist for 2 sold-out reveals at London’s famed, 10,000-cap Alexandra Palace.
“We genuinely didn’t suppose we’d play with them,” Lunny says as we reward ourselves with pints of Stella on the nearest pub, which is so native it appears like we’re interrupting one thing as we step inside. Although the primary present opening for Idles was a bit gradual shifting, by the second night time “one thing simply fucking switched.”
“We walked on stage at 7 p.m. and the whole venue from the get-go was fucking packed,” Lunny says proudly. “And everybody was like, let’s fucking go loopy.”
It’s these high-energy reveals, full with loads of moshing and on-stage antics, which have made Lambrini Women a band to observe. However the sturdy word-of-mouth and fixed touring made crafting the band’s debut album an intimidating process.
“With out flattering ourselves, I believe we’re identified extra for our reside reveals than we’re for our information — up till now,” Macieira says.
Lambrini Women hope that modifications with “Who Let the Canines Out,” launched on Friday by way of Metropolis Slang Information, a sleekly-produced firestorm of an album encapsulating their signature mixture of political musings and offbeat humor. Take its title, for instance. It could possibly be learn into as a commentary on misogyny or, as Lunny jests, “a metaphor for late-stage capitalism,” but it surely’s actually simply an inside joke about Baha Males’s 2000 hit that went too far. “We thought it was fucking hilarious,” Macieira laughs.
The 11-track report was written in Oxford throughout two brief breaks from touring, and being up towards the clock helped the band uncover that they work means higher below stress. “Folks say you could have your complete life to put in writing your debut album, however that wasn’t the case with us,” Macieira says. “We have been like, ‘OK, we simply gotta do that. No matter comes out is what comes out.’”
“Who Let the Canines Out” begins with a bang because of “Unhealthy Apple,” a siren-laden tirade on police corruption and brutality backed by an unforgiving breakbeat. Lunny had been attempting to synthesize their ideas on the subject into tune because the homicide of Sarah Everard by a Metropolitan Police officer in March 2021, but it surely stored popping out “fucking crap.”
“I used to be looking for a option to make an umbrella critique on the complete policing system, but additionally not in a means which was insensitive, and highlighted totally different points,” Lunny says, noting that she’s “conscious it’s very simple being a blonde white girly to be like, ‘Police are dangerous!’”
She continues, “I’m coming from a giant place of privilege to critique the police ultimately and never really feel fucking shit scared about it. I do know individuals from the police who’re good individuals, however the reality is the system is corrupt and it may be utilized in any option to ensure that issues like sexual assault and homicide are completely brushed below the rug.”
Regardless of its critical begin, “Who Let the Canines Out” quickly ventures into the foolish with “No Homo,” a observe subverting the dated time period that’s certain to get crowds going. “I like your face and it’s in a homosexual means,” Lunny sings over a guitar line. “I promise no homo!” Although it’s meant to be a light-hearted romp, Lunny acknowledges that all of it comes again to the “self-deprecation that comes with internalized homophobia.”
“There’s a lot guilt and disgrace nonetheless for therefore many queer individuals, even in case you’ve surrounded your self in queer communities, like that doesn’t go away,” Lunny says. “In case you do like somebody and also you’re unsure in the event that they such as you, you possibly can all the time be like ‘I’m simply gonna joke it off,’ although you’re form of taking the piss out of your self.”
However the mid-section of the album sees Lambrini Women tackle considerably uncharted territory: getting private. “Nothing Tastes as Good as It Feels” pulls from each Lunny and Macieira’s experiences with consuming issues, with the title paraphrasing Kate Moss’ notorious 2009 quote — “As my head hits the rim of the bathroom lid/ Kate Moss offers no fucks that my interval has stopped/ I want I used to be skinny however I’ll by no means be sufficient,” Lunny sings.
“Magnificence beliefs and norms simply completely spoil your fucking thoughts,” she says. “That genuinely has had such a dangerous influence on my life. I do know I slag off Kat Moss within the tune, however she was as a lot a sufferer of it as anybody else, particularly within the ’90s. She was fucking destroyed by the sweetness and trend trade.”
By addressing the subject in a “brazen means,” they hope that the tune can assist begin genuine discussions between pals and on-line, particularly because the “heroin stylish” look continues to realize reputation on social media platforms like TikTok. “I simply hope it makes individuals really feel much less ashamed or embarrassed,” Lunny says. “As a result of I really feel ashamed and embarrassed of my very own stuff, and I all the time will even singing about it. However I simply hope that it helps individuals really feel much less alone.”
One other tune near Lambrini Women’ collective coronary heart is “Particular, Completely different,” which particulars, as Macieira places it, “the unusual, contradicting duality of being neurodiverse.”
“There’s quite a lot of power in neurodiversity and there’s quite a lot of uniqueness. And people strengths are celebrated after they’re useful, however then the difficulties are shamed,” Macieira says, including that it’s their favourite observe on the report. “I believe that tune sums that up actually viscerally and I discover that very shifting.”
Lunny says it was “cathartic” to put in writing from their very own expertise “going by the tutorial system and simply feeling actually fucking silly.” However she’s nonetheless battling the concept of letting the skin world into her head by lyricism.
“I fucking hate doing that,” Lunny admits. “It’s gotta be accomplished and it’s good, as a result of I do need to have the ability to write stuff that’s relatable to different individuals. However singing about issues from a private perspective is so much more durable. Pointing the finger at your self is so much more durable than it’s pointing it at everybody else.”
Fortunately, earlier than issues get too critical, the album closes with a tune titled “Cuntology 101.” Impressively reciting “cunt” 26 occasions in simply over two minutes, it’s an train in reclaiming a once-nasty phrase that has now reentered the zeitgeist in a extra constructive kind.
“Every part we write is so fucking offended on a regular basis. I wished to put in writing one thing that’s celebratory about simply being a messy bitch and loving your self,” Lunny says, including: “Persons are afraid as a result of it gained’t get performed on the fucking radio. Like, generally you’ve simply gotta take a bullet.”
As Lambrini Women put together to return on tour this spring, together with a headlining present at London’s Electrical Brixton and one other run within the U.S., “Cuntology 101” is one they’re wanting ahead to listening to crowds chant alongside to.
“I discover it so wonderful when individuals sing alongside to our songs, and truthfully it doesn’t occur that a lot in any respect,” Maceiera says. “I did have a second watching Idles after we have been supporting them and simply seeing everyone within the crowd singing the lyrics, fingers within the air and I used to be like, ‘I would like that.’ I’d adore it if individuals linked to our music and listened to our music sufficient to wish to scream the phrases again at us.”