LAMBRINI GIRLS RAGE AND SURPRISE ON THEIR DEBUT LP, ‘WHO LET THE DOGS OUT’
ALBUM REVIEW | LAMBRINI GIRLS – WHO LET THE DOGS OUT by Morris Shamah
Lambrini Girls are Phoebe Bunny (vocals/guitar) and Lilly Macieira (bass), and they are a noise-punk duo from Brighton, England. If you haven’t heard of them yet, it’s not for lack of trying – they’ve been touring incessantly over the past few years with just an EP out. Now, with their debut full length album Who Let The Dogs Out from City Slang and an extensive upcoming headline tour, Lambrini Girls are about to step up in a big way.
Who Let The Dogs Out is a loud, raucous, angry record chock full of heavy riffs, heavy rhythms, and heavy messages. Over the course of ten stellar tracks and one interlude, Lambrini Girls display a razor sharp understanding of their brief – make loud noises for the things that matter – and still find the space to turn a few surprises. Yes, this record is a noise-punk record, that is to say it’s loud enough to block out your inner monologue and savage enough to get your blood boiling. But it also has moments that are danceable and boppy and even almost pop.
The record starts with a trio of balls-to-the-walls modern noise-punk. No two ways about it, Bad Apple, Company Culture, and Big Dick Energy, are all made to be played loud enough to prompt a loudness warning from your phone which you’ll immediately ignore because you’re shouting along. Maciera’s bass rumbles and shakes while Bunny screams, thrashing their voice. There’s nothing subtle about these, and considering they’re calls to action against police brutality, workplace sexual harassment, and male fragility, nor should they be. They fit right in with the tracks on their excellent debut EP, You’re Welcome.
With the fourth track, No Homo, things start to branch out a bit. No Homo is a more personal, intimate song, using the classic “no homo” idiom to capture queer insecurity. It’s also a bop – there’s an almost throwback, 90’s-punk-cum-surf-rock bounce to the track, as if the duo were listening to a lot of The Foxboro Hot Tubs. It’s still Lambrini Girls – Phoebe’s shouting while Lilly holds it down – but it’s also more subtle, layered, and groovy than you’d expect.
Tracks like You’re Not From Around Here and Filthy Rich Nepo Baby continue to deliver on your assumptions, but the album really shines when Lambrini Girls branch out further and dig deeper. Special, Different tackles Phoebe’s neurodivergent experiences in one of the album’s loudest and most in-your-face tracks, and Nothing Tastes As Good As It Feels marries eating disorders with some more of that melodic, single-coil classic punk vibes. Cuntology 101 reclaims ‘cuty’ from an insult to a badge of self love and wellness against a thick distorted bassline and – is that a synth? – lead riff that’s practically a pop song. It’s also hilarious: “Doing a poo at your friends house / cunty / Stealing shit from chain stores / cunty / Learning to let things go is cunty / Learning how to say no is cunty.”
The album’s stand out song, Love, is a huge, nearly-industrial track that’s also the final single. It’s everything you want – thick, loud, moshable, and angry with a heavy riff and a massive build – but it’s also the only song on the album that’s got a clearly defined midsection and isn’t, at all, socio-political, but rather a confessional hiding behind rage-poetry. It hits all the harder for it.
Who Let The Dogs Out is a scalpel. All of the tracks are exactly the right length with exactly the right lyrics to open you up for some serious headbanging to channel some righteous rage. It’s political and personal punk at its best and there’s no doubt these tracks will both fit right in and expand their already-legendary live shows. Who Let The Dogs Out is a fierce and fearless debut that shows exactly how warranted the hype actually is. Underestimate Lambrini Girls at your own risk.
Who Let The Dogs Out is out now via City Slang. Lambrini Girls will be touring the UK this April.
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