Bite Me Bambi’s Eat This is a lively musical collection that intertwines its traditional influences with modern lyrics for a playful punk sound. As their second studio album, released on February 14, 2025, Eat This is centered on contemporary themes which include references to technology and an anxiety of overstimulation. However, as novel as their angst is, it is equally rooted in deeper universal despair as their songs also focus on the turbulent nature of relationships with others as well as the self. Each song highlights the band’s Ska musical characteristics and with harmonizing vocals from lead singer Tahlena Chikami, it is a colorful listen.
Track one, “Too Many People” is about frustration with receiving too many opinions about one’s life. It includes lyrical references to the modern age, such as “shitposting” to highlight the heightened sense of chaotic discourse one encounters on the internet. The song is an individualistic anthem as Chikami sings in the middle eight, “This one’s for all the clones / Get a personality of your own / Take your sorry asses back home / Cause it’s one of a kind but it’s mine.” Mixed with complimentary organ chords and a hypnotic horns solo, “Too Many People” is a fun clapback to the over-opinionated noise of crowd manipulation.
Track four, “Gaslighter’s Anthem” is another melodious number that features heavy organ and horn accents to amplify the urgency of the singer’s emotions. Despite its bright sonic nature, the message of the song is much darker as Chikami explains the powerful hold a certain boy has on her heart and its potent influence. She sings, “So give me some of that good talk / Look at what you do to me / I’m a mess can’t you see?” It is testimony to a common trend of handing power over ourselves to others because we lack the confidence to self-validate in the first place.
Track eight, “Girls of Summer” is an ode to memorable flings and the reinvention of them come summertime. It is the funkiest and most technological song on the album as it integrates various voiceovers, soft electronic beats and record scrubbing to contribute a reflective ambiance. As a conclusion to the album, “Girls of Summer” acts as an acceptance speech to the experimental personality portrayed in the previous songs. As Chikami vibrantly sings “I’ve seen your face before / I know this game / Yes I know the score” and “I’m a sucker for the girls of summer,” she exudes a fearlessness in her actions that emphasizes the fun in even the most dangerous of affairs.
The songs of Eat This are catchy and entertaining but offer a riveting message about the current state of our society. Commenting on the static nature of relationships, the infrequency of individuality and the incentive to hate all within an online landscape, Bite Me Bambi depicts this delusion we disintegrate into amidst a bouncy rhythm we call normal. Although extremely pop-oriented, it doesn’t get more punk than that.
