Punk Chants for Change

You’re Welcome is the jokily presumptuous title of Lambrini Girls’ debut EP. In case one is unfamiliar with these cornerstones of the Brighton queer punk scene, they explain themselves as “the best band in the world.” On the other hand, the picture on the cover of the record is of a burning piece of crap. The truth is somewhere in between. Over six hard-driving, rhythmic tirades against morally invincible male rock stars, TERFS, toxic lad culture and related “stain[s] on this earth,” the band prove themselves solid and impactful conscious punks.

“Boys in the Band” introduces Lambrini Girls’ sludgy and ferocious instrumentation and singer/guitarist Phoebe Lunny’s ranting vocals. With only three people in the band they generate a big combustible-industrial sound. Lunny tears in with the line “Give a big hand to the boys in the band who can do everything better than me” and it says a lot about where they’re coming from between the caustic anti-patriarchal irony of the statement and the non-singer’s regional accent and percussive attack (“Give a big hand” is a phrased as a triplet.) They propose a toast to the predatory male musicians women have to hide their drinks from; sharp wordplay that highlights the impossibility of “separat[ing] the art from the artist.”

The rest of the EP is in a similar vein. “Terf Wars” lambastes transphobic phony feminists: “You justify your hate with an Oxford education. Gender neutral toilets are not the problem.” “Lads Lads Lads” is a monstrous portrayal of a “snowflake”-bashing wifebeater: “Another gray area, here’s to the weekend!”. “Help Me I’m Gay” is, shocker, not a cry for help: “Pray for my soul because everything about me is apparently a spectacle.” The message is direct, important and, also like direct, important messages in general, somewhat obvious.

But quoting the words doesn’t do justice to the impact of the delivery. As angrily off-the-wall as Lambrini Girls are, they’re squarely on-the-beat. Lunny’s voice is a drum that can shout, and lyrics that might read prosaically are explosive the way she fires them off. These aren’t tunes the audience will hum after hearing but ones they might punch into nearby inanimate objects (“Lads, lads, lads!” is a good example.) The music, which varies slightly from pop-punk to rockabilly-punk to sci-fi-punk, is unleashed with equal precision and conviction, though it’s more functional than memorable.

Thanks are owed to You’re Welcome for delivering six chant-riff-chants slamming creeps and reactionaries with righteous force. While they haven’t yet found a balance between sociopolitical focus and artistic range, Lambrini Girls’ striking power alone is impressive.