ALBUM REVIEW: Hot Singles In Your Area – Scene Queen
Love her or hate her, there is no denying that Hannah Collins aka SCENE QUEEN is carving her own musical path. After the success of her two EPs – Bimbocore Volumes 1 and 2, both released in 2022 – and with her fantastically fun live shows, she has become one of the rock scene’s fastest rising stars. And whilst she might already be known for her bright pink stage outfits, for coining the term ‘bimbocore’ – a combination of heavy metal and pop with feminist themes – and for her hypersexual lyrics, her debut album Hot Singles In Your Area reveals that there is more to SCENE QUEEN than meets the eye.
Opening song BDSM – which in this case stands for Big Dumb Stupid Men – is a fast-paced metal/electronic song that shows off the best of what SCENE QUEEN has to offer, with heavy screams, guitar solos and lyrics which deal with misogyny in the music industry. It sets the stage for the album well; 18+ calls out musicians who abuse their power, Whips And Chains – a trap-metal song – deals with the subject of getting retribution on men who spike women’s drinks, and Pink Push-Up Bra is a metalcore song that deals with retribution for sexual assault.
Indeed, the lyrics on the album are fantastic, whether they’re discussing misogyny in the music industry in Mutual Masturbation or slut shaming in Girls Gone Wild, which sees Collins team up with WARGASM. The title track lures you in with an acoustic guitar before spitting in your face with a heavy guitar riff and death screams. However, there are also fun songs, such as the country-metal song MILF, the grungy-metal Amateur, and the fast-paced rock of Finger, which celebrates female sexuality and lesbian relationships.
It isn’t perfect though. Sometimes the production makes the lyrics hard to hear as the music overwhelms the vocals. This is scattered throughout the album, but is most notable in Peg, whose electronic-metal beat overwhelms the vocals, making it hard to hear what Collins is saying. Furthermore, some of the songs are so short that they end just as it feels like they’re getting started. This is exemplified in POV (featuring THE READY SET), which is under two minutes and builds to an exciting climax only to end before that can be explored.
That said, the feature with THE READY SET works well as they both bounce off each other. Likewise, WARGASM fit easily into the aforementioned Girls Gone Wild, especially Milkie Way, whose screams during the verses solidify the frustration of what it is like being a woman in the rock music industry.
But it is the final two songs which are the album’s biggest standouts. Oral Fixation is a frantic and fast-paced song that is extremely raw in the lyrics about how getting tongue-tied in front of a crush can make you overthink, and the closer – appropriately titled Climax – is a gentle acoustic-turned-rock song about falling in love and how powerful it can be. Both of these songs are raw and vulnerable, and showcase a softer side to SCENE QUEEN.
The album as a whole shows how versatile SCENE QUEEN is in her sound, as she pulls from country music to pop to electronic music to metal to various other genres to create her own sound, and overall this a fantastic debut. SCENE QUEEN can be both vulnerable and humorous, and judging by this album’s many strengths and its lyrics that deal with misogyny, sexual empowerment and being open about vulnerabilities, she is only going to go from strength to strength.
Rating: 9/10
Hot Singles In Your Area is set for release on June 28th via Hopeless Records.
Like SCENE QUEEN on Facebook.