I don’t know about you, but sometimes there is nothing like cathartic screaming vocals to accompany me as I walk through busy city streets. For this reason, I’ve spent the past few weeks with GRLwood’s ‘scream-pop’ album ‘Daddy’ on repeat. The title itself seems to allude to dom men in sexual relationships, which is explored in the track ‘I’m Yr Dad’. Here, the lead singer takes on this dominant role, repeating the track title as drum beats build up and guitars join in until it becomes a scream. Fronted by Louisville’s guitarist Rej Forester and drummer Karen Ledford, who have described themselves as ‘2 angry lesbian genderfuck feminists’, the song explores ideas that poet Lisa Luxx expressed in an article for Slutever recently in terms of the use of strap-ons in queer relationships, as though ‘the general consensus is that a cis woman’s body is incomplete as a sexual tool, and dick is needed because dick represents sex.’
On the other hand, lyrics such as “suck my dick in my fast car” and the statement “and I’ve got a really big dick” are presented in a clearly mocking tone. In this way, it seems to reference so-called dom men who perhaps abuse this power, or don’t really understand the concept of BDSM, thinking it is just about hard, fast penetration. Fast cars are also used as a stereotypical trope of masculinity along with things like football in ‘Vaccines Made Me Gay’. This is another great example of humour being used to mock the oppressor through the use of repetition.
We need songs like this in a world where male entitlement like this can lead to violence and even death.
The best songs are fast-paced and angry, with another favourite being ‘Nice Guy’ where the singer takes on the persona of a Nice Guy™ proclaiming to be so and asking ‘Why won’t you fuck me?’ and referencing typical comments of this type of man, such as ‘all of the bad guys get all of the good girls’. We need songs like this in a world where male entitlement like this can lead to violence and even death.
Another favourite is ‘Wet’, where the repetition means we might not take the sexual statement ‘you make me wet’ seriously. It could also be argued that the screaming in the song have an orgasmic quality, leading into the sexual frustration in the next track, ‘Bisexual’. This could be open to interpretation depending on the speaker, whether the singer is being herself or adopting a character. The most likely is that the statement ‘I want to be your boyfriend’ refers to her wanting to be in the place of her friend’s boyfriend, yet again gives the impression of becoming a different gender.
the lyrics are carefully chosen and ultimately speak from a feminist, queer woman’s experience.
There are also softer, slower-paced songs such as ‘Communicate With Me’ that I imagine in a live setting would give the audience time to breathe between the up-tempo tracks. Like many of the songs, these undulate from sombre, subtle moaning to guttural screams. Ultimately, when you listen you know that this will be a band that has unbelievable energy when performing live. Some parts are inaudible – sounds rather than words – yet the lyrics are carefully chosen and ultimately speak from a feminist, queer woman’s experience.
Featured photo: deepskyobject (CC 2.0)
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