Lilith’s Army
Doll LP
(Criminal Records)
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Doll LP by Lilith’s Army. While the claim that, as a musical form, Riot Grrl has evolved over time is an easy one to make (Sleater-Kinney has taken their sound and inspiration in several directions, and L7 has mutated a couple of times too), Lilith’s Army joyfully proves that remaining exactly where the music was thirty-five years ago – deep within a rough and ready form of melodic indie-punk – can be just as much fun and produce results which are just as positive on their new album, Doll. Before a note of music plays, potential listeners get an eyeful of the album’s cover [which looks like it might have been the place from which the designs for some of the destroyed toys that appeared in Toy Story 3 might have sprung –ed] and need to absorb song titles like “Eat My TV,” “Sick Of It” and “Not A Girl” which are are excellent elements that are capable of painting a picture in a potential listener’s mind’s eye – a vision which is proven to be well realized as soon as needle catches groove on Doll‘s A-side.
…As solid as it does get though, Doll does not begin at a perfectly smooth run. When needle first catches groove and “Eat My TV” opens the A-side of the album, it flounders a little because the pieces just don’t neatly align. Granted, Sylvie Studente’s guitars hit all the marks required to call vintage L7 vibes to mind, but her voice doesn’t quite have the same reach; with just a breath of of menthol rasp to raise the grain, Studente sounds emotionally removed from the song – which leaves lines about channel surfing and listening to “fucking hip hop” floating face up and lifeless. Happily though, the mix gets a little more even as “Cursed” follows a similar musical direction (same kind of grind, but with fewer metal shavings left in the mix) but comes off stronger. There, the guitars tighten and leave exactly no room for stray sparks, and Studente’s voice avoids any reaches it can’t achieve. That is immediately more satisfying as one is playing through the album, and really helps to bridge the two sides together.
And, as soon as listeners flip Doll and set the B-side to playing, listeners will realize that, either by accident or design, Lilith’s Army has ensured that the greatest climaxes and proverbial fireworks displays come later in the running of Doll. Cuts like “One,” “Breathe,” “Drain Me” and the album’s title track all grind as hard or harder than the cuts on the album’s A-side but, perhaps even more importantly, they do it with a confidence that was far thinner on the first side of the album. On “One,” for example, the guitar tone hits thickly from note one, and causes listeners to sneer sympathetically right away as Studente makes the most of a slower and almost defeated tone in her vocal delivery – basically daring listeners to respond. Conversely, the grinding, L7-on-downers guitar tone which powers “Breathe” could take listeners’ collective breath away [if they’re running front-to back with the record –ed], while the main guitar riff “Drain Me” seems to take both a baseball bat to as well as some liberties with the central riff of The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams.”
By the time “Helpless” spirals lugubriously to close the album, listeners will be well-won by the B-side of Doll, but will find themselves lamenting that the band hasn’t left themselves anywhere to further develop the inroads they’ve made – the second side of the album touches on darkness similar to what listeners might expect from Nine Inch Nails, and they’ll find themselves fascinated by the fact that Lilith’s Army has done that without the benefit of any electronic instrumentation at all, but they’ll also find that this is where the album ends absolutely infuriating. Granted, while it could be argued that the changes the band has made to their sound as Doll comes to a close could be viewed as the great big hook which ensures that Lilith’s Army will find an audience waiting expectantly when they return with a follow-up to Doll, such a sentiment feels all the more cold – particularly given that the album’s closing hit so warmly. It is, needless to say, a very unexpected end – but the anticipation left for more music – for greater development of Lilith’s Army – is palpable. [Bill Adams]
Artist:
https://www.facebook.com/lilithsarmyOfficial/
https://www.instagram.com/lilithsarmyuk/
https://soundcloud.com/liliths_army
https://www.shazam.com/artist/liliths-army/285049906
Album:
Doll is out now. Busy it here at Criminal Records’ online store.
