EP REVIEW: Athames – Shooting Daggers
Feminist punk trio SHOOTING DAGGERS unleash their debut EP and with a number of different musical styles linking up. It’s a riotous mixture of stirring music that sounds like a Molotov cocktail being launched straight at the ills of society. Musically, there’s straight up punk attitude, groove laden hardcore, alternative and grunge vibes, queercore energy, and plenty of anthemic Riot Grrl energy for starters, while the lyrics and vocals are never delivered as anything less than venomous, but done in a hopeful way. This isn’t just anger for anger’s sake.
The EP is titled Athames (named after daggers used by witches during rituals) and as vocalist/guitarist Sal states “Women in history have been perceived with an evil eye and were burnt because they were suspected to be witches merely for being independent and living outside society’s patriarchal rules”. It is with this ethos that SHOOTING DAGGERS take control with their music and the results are breath-taking.
SHOOTING DAGGERS do not mess around and as soon as the incendiary opening salvo No Exit kicks in, it’s aiming straight for the jugular and the band don’t care what anyone thinks. They’re going to say what they’re going to say anyway, and say it they most certainly do. The rest of the EP follows the same path and SHOOTING DAGGERS don’t let up for a second.
Liar is a low-down bass-led storm that erupts into a furious DC hardcore explosion, while Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a discordant sneer of a track. Carnage is an aptly-titled song, complete with a disconcertingly menacing opening, and We Will Live combines a dreamlike haze with cathartic anger to stunning effect.
Athames concludes with the triumphantly furious You Can’t Kill Us and Missandra, a jagged punk stomp with a killer sample of Drag Race UK star Bimini that states “You all look so sexy tonight, you make me want to dismantle the patriarchy” and ends the EP on a sheer high. The only downside to the EP is that, even though it has seven songs on it, it’s over far too quickly – but that does mean that it’s ripe for repeated listens of course.
Over the seven tracks on Athames, SHOOTING DAGGERS say more and display more energy and passion than the majority of bands do on a full-length album, multiple albums or even full careers, and you can bet you will hear much, much more from SHOOTING DAGGERS in the future.
Rating: 8/10
Athames is set for release on May 20th via New Heavy Sounds.
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