The cult of rock and roll is an easily accessible outlet for cool, open to anyone who wants to fit in, anyone who feels different, a place where you can belong and be accepted. Yet, for all its openness and honesty, there are still taboo subjects that rock refuses to deal with, usually surrounding mental health. The list of musicians who took their own lives or lost theirs to addiction is depressingly long. Cool doesn’t cure sadness, it doesn’t make you immune to your own mental health and you can’t solve all your problems by just ignoring them.
Which is why Leeds duo Kamikaze Girls are such an important voice in the punk scene at the minute, and why ‘Sad’, their new EP, is such a staggeringly bold accomplishment. At a brisk five songs, it’s not overly wrought in dealing with mental health issues but makes sure it doesn’t romanticize the symptoms by buying into the cult of the tortured artist. Kamikaze Girls are all about dealing with mental health issues and negative self-perception straight on, skillfully intertwining raw accounts of depression with their unique blend of pop and 90’s alt rock.
‘Sad’ acknowledges that owning your own sadness leads to the potential for strength, growth, development – but it’s not an easy ride. When singer and guitarist Lucinda Livingstone sings “I’m pulling out my eyelashes whilst you’re fast asleep in bed” on opener ‘Hexes’, it’s too specific, too physical – hell, even a little bit embarrassing – to be painted as a picture of tortured cool. It’s real and raw. These are the songs that you’re too scared to sing, which is why it’s so important they’re out there in the open.
Matched by a Kinks-esque riff that growls furiously in the verses, and Conor Dawson’s powerful drumming giving Dave Grohl a run for his money, ‘Hexes’ firmly establishes ‘Sad’s sonic tone – gutsy, effects heavy guitars, with drums that sound like they’re gonna break at any minute as Livingstone’s mumbled vocals give way to screams and shouts. In a lot of ways, Kamikaze Girls’ sound is a real throwback to 90s rock and roll. Lead single ‘Stitches’ is the offspring of Sleater Kinney and L7, whilst ‘I Hate Funerals’ induces same chills as hearing Soundgarden’s ‘Fourth Of July’ for the first time all those years ago. Kamikaze Girls’ strength crucially lies in the fact that there’s a real warmth at the core of their songwriting, perhaps best demonstrated on the chorus of ‘I Hate Funerals’ – hinging on dissonant chords, laden with distortion and howled lyrics.
The record’s intimacy helps carry the narrative thread of things falling apart, culminating in ‘Ladyfuzz’. A candid account of a suicide attempt, full of open-wound honest lyrics and aggressive howls drawn straight from the soul, ‘Ladyfuzz’ drives towards a euphoric bridge, full of pop-punk sing along appeal. Its biggest success is that it captures the duplicity of this record; the trauma of mental health coupled with the redeeming power of music. Kamikaze Girls are awash in a sea of warm guitars and smashing drums, and although mental health may still be relatively taboo to some, the message is clear. It’s OK to be sad.
MATTHEW WILSON