SF Bay Area-based all-female rockers VIQUEEN (pronounced VY-kween, as in “Viking”) are truly a force with which to be reckoned. The moniker of these fierce rockers is inspired by a female Superpower, one who inherits the fighting qualities of hammer-wielding Nordic warriors. With their debut album, “Spill Your Guts”, the girls come, weapons in hand, to spill their own deepest secrets and desires as well as the implied threat that real blood could be spilt in the process.
This fast-paced 8-track fiery exercise in female empowerment and guttural expression leaves the listener gasping for air and begging for more joyous noise. Whether shouting down that bad break-up, dissing that attention whore trying to steal the limelight or just straight-up fighting for one’s right to party, these boisterous Rock Goddesses turn it up, and turn it out.
Uptempo punk opener “C Word” tackles the exact subject you might expect from a song with such a title – or does it? Drummer Emma Hyatt is forcefully at the helm on this bloodletter, as the tempo switches from adrenaline-fueled punk to half-time breakdowns accented by fever-heightening flourishes. “Staring down the bottle tonight, the only company I KEEP!” howls along Alexa Rae Machulis with a deadly-serious war/warning cry.
“Pack your bags, you’re going on a guilt trip!” On album highlight “Space Camp” AC/DC-style guitar riffs culminate into Courtney Love-esque blood curdling howls (circa “Teenage Whore” era Hole). Along with the equally-ragey “Bloodless”, the song demonstrates the band’s metal chops and shred cred. The album climaxes with the band’s previously-released single “Party Animal” a feel-good anthem showing the band’s crowd-pleasing playfulness. Grand finale (and second single) “Unholy” spikes the final nails in the coffin, per se, with a rubble-rousing Rock bomb. “Always been more wild than the others”, Alexa taunts, “I’d rather die young than play it safe forever!” Letting everyone know of the fiery place to in which you can someday find her, the ringing, shouting chorus of, “I WILL LEAVE YOU A KEY!!!” is thrillingly repeated to great delight on top of striking guitar riffs, as the melody lingers long after the last chord is struck.
In Norse mythology, the passionate, thrill-seeking Goddess Freyja (associated with love, sex, war and death), rides into battle to slay the vengeful, mountain huntress Skadi, a courageously bold femme fatale known for challenging male-dominated society. Upon completion of – and, as a result, exhaustion from – VIQUEEN’s tour-de-force debut, it’s not hard to envision these volatile vixens having put to rest a few worldly aggressors of their (and our) own.
All songs were written and performed by VIQUEEN. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Joe Maccarone of DogGod Productions and produced by Maccarone and VIQUEEN.
Category: Rock, Punk, Indie, Alternative
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