We Are Girls, the debut album from Bristol trio IDESTROY shows the band’s instrumental prowess and fun reimagining of riot grrrl even if not all tracks live up to this aspiration. The album is at its best when utilising the familiar but ultimately enjoyable aspects of riot grrrl and British punk to curate a narrative around being a woman in music. One such standout track is ‘Petting Zoo’, which provides a roaring release for anyone who has felt violated in clubs and music venues, places that should be safe spaces for all music lovers including women. This idea that punk needed to treat its female fans better was one of the catalysts for riot grrrl in the 90s. It’s both fitting and depressing that one of the best tracks from a band seeking to capture and modernise the riot grrrl spirit revolves around this same theme.
Other strengths come from the slightly darker, life-on-the-edge tracks that still maintain an enjoyable headbanging listenability. Tracks like ‘Death Party’ and ‘Let’s Play with Knives’ are catchy with a strong beat that is fairly danceable, something that isn’t necessarily present in a lot of modern iterations of punk. IDESTROY does veer towards a pop punk sensibility whilst still maintaining that distorted and fast punk guitar sound that pop punk often smoothes out. These tracks maintain the edge and sound of punk while still appealing to a broader audience.
However, the album suffers when the band loses that edge. Oddly enough, one of the least enjoyable efforts on this album is its title track ‘We Are Girls’. While still showing off the strong musical talent of the band, the lyrics undermine its rebellious punk sound. Rather than making any sort of interesting statement, it churns out vaguely feminist slogans that feel too sanitised to inspire. While no genre is static and rules are made to be broken, there are still key things that make them distinct. Punk, riot grrrl in particular, is distinguished by anti-corporatism and non-conformity. So it can be jarring to hear lean-in girl boss feminism lyrics over a style of music rooted in more radical protest. Honestly, it comes across more Girl Power™ than riot grrrl. There could be an ironic aspect to it that is going over my head but the rest of the album comes across as quite sincere. This is a real shame as titular tracks are often what most listeners will come across first, potentially turning away punk fans from genuinely catchy and enjoyable tracks on the rest of the album. Of course, there are also a few tracks that are forgettable but that’s the case with all but the most brilliant of albums.
Overall, there’s no denying the ability of IDESTROY as a band. The standout tracks do an excellent job of paying homage to a genre while modernising it for an era that doesn’t necessarily appreciate it. Balancing this edge with enjoyment is what gives this album strength, but the songs that don’t embrace this riot grrl feeling end up sounding insipid.
