Artist: Lambrini Girls
Album: Who Let the Dogs Out
Reviewer: Jade Forrest
For the last few months, I have been noticing a big decline in motivation to do anything outside of doomscrolling on social media. Nothing new from what most people my age do, and it doesn’t help being met with waves upon waves of constant bad news and freezing in fear with every passing day – like watching car accidents, unable to look away. Kinda feels like I’m not alone in this, as car-crash compilation videos get a quarter-million views in two months of posting. Easing myself away from Meta-owned/tampered-with apps, I have started to spend more time searching keywords on Spotify and looking at all the user-made playlists with a particular word in the title: playlists with 125k saves, some with 35, all made with love and time from 1 of 675 million people. Like a window into someone else’s life, and a chance to connect through the love of music.
Through the power of the interwebs, I ended up finding this album after listening to three hours of Spotify radio/recommendations. Found amongst playlists filled with pop-punk revelations and political sentiments lies this little gem, Lambrini Girls’ debut album. Keeping in line with its genre, this fork-found-in-the-kitchen project plays into the tried-and-true method of fun, energetic punk and aces it to a tee.
The title of the album, Who Let the Dogs Out, made me assume that this was going to be a cheesy dance-pop album in honor of the great Baha Men. But it actually ended up swinging for the high-rise of Riot Grrrl anthems, with discussions of gender and class inequality, the rise of militarization in the police force and the dream of self-expression. With a mixture of fun instrumental breakdowns and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, Lambrini Girls blend in with artists like Be Your Own Pet or Snooper while still keeping things fresh – though Snooper, Amyl and the Sniffers and Be Your Own Pet have been around for several years before this, so it kinda feels a bit late to the party. However, the album still deserves its flowers as being some of the earliest projects from the group, as a sign of the bright future that Lambrini Girls have ahead of them.
Being met with constant existential dread for the future has made it a bit hard to be excited about anything, but I am thankful to have a light at the end of the tunnel. This album is that: a feeling that if things won’t get better, I can channel my anger into art and protests. I can just keep saying to myself, “People ain’t shit, I’m a bad bitch and I can make things better for me and everyone around me,” or at least in the words from Who Let the Dogs Out‘s final song, “Putting yourself first is cunty, respecting others is cunty, too.”
What’s a review without some recommendations?
If you like Lambrini Girls’ Who Let the Dogs Out, you would also like:
Midori – あらためまして、はじめまして、ミドリです (Once again, nice to meet you, I’m Midori)
Rico Nasty – Las Ruinas (or Lethal, which comes out in May)
The Gits – Frenching the Bully
Also, if you are going to Treefort Music Fest, add these to your itinerary and do some pre-concert homework:
Amyl and the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness
The Linda Lindas – No Obligation
Be Your Own Pet – Mommy
Dummy – Free Energy