Album Review: GRLwood – Daddy

Louisville, KY duo GRLwood have been taking the home turf by storm with their scream pop meets surfy queer punk, the lyrical content of their debut album, Daddy, constantly challenges social norms and touches on taboo topics relating to sexuality and heteronormative social structures, this is paired with their crunching, aggressive and original soundtrack to create an album that constantly heads off at unpredictable tangents. Daddy is released today and is now available via digital outlets and GRLwood‘s Bandcamp.

The gentle off kilter introduction to C-State gives way to some tortured stripped down post punk which confirms that this is going to be an unpredictable ride, I’m Yer Dad builds up a frantic raw garage punk and confirms that GRLwood are not pulling any punches on their debut full length. Daddy continues to shift across the punk spectrum and never once settles into a comfortable rut, which makes it the perfect soundtrack for an album that constantly explores and challenges attitudes towards sexuality and the norms and prejudices around these issues. GRLwood regularly release pent up screams of rage and frustration, but there’s also humour thrown into the mix, along with a knowing nod to punk roots and hardcore, as the album constantly shifts between styles.

This is an album that explores important issues, this is frantic raw and original album that you can’t describe, at one moment there is the feel of the tangled post punk unpredictability of The Fall, at others the punk rage of the likes of Mobina Galore and Svetlanas comes to the fore before they veer off into the discord and surreality that The Lunachicks personified. This is a release that at times is not an easy listen, Daddy is an album that will undoubtably divide opinion, but as this is an original, politically charged, brutally honest and unpredictable album it’s a release that you should really form your own opinion on, as I guarantee that you won’t hear anything else quite like GRLwood this year.

Daddy can be purchased and streamed via Bandcamp here