Following a great self-titled EP in 2021, Melbourne’s Blonde Revolver have released their highly anticipated full length debut, the perfectly titled, Good Girls Go To Heaven, Bad Girls Go Everywhere . Out now via Rack Off Records (Shove, Future Suck), the sextet have made an essential punk record, full of charm and attitude, with songs both serious and undeniably fun, from tales of youthful hi-jinx to furious odes of female empowerment. The band blend together synth punk and hardcore in the process, resulting in a set that’s tough as nails, wonderfully askew, and impressively catchy. There are songs about shitty lovers, shittier expectations hoisted upon them, and at least two songs that deal with vampires.
With the band’s six piece line-up (comprised of members of so many great Melbourne bands), there’s a density to each song, layered with guitars and synths, built on resonant rhythms, and led by Zoe Mulcahy’s commanding vocals. At its core it’s an album about being who you are, becoming the person you want to be, and not the person someone else expects you to be. They take the power back from those that want to objectify and demoralize them, giving those hung up on polite feminine behavior a swift kick in the teeth. The album opens with a sample and an adaption of Nerf Herder’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer theme, setting the tone. For every bit as serious as the record’s themes are, the band are still having fun, and it’s apparent throughout the constantly-agitated-but-too-busy-having-fun-making-music-with-friends album. Songs like “Romeo” ooze with hardcore spirit, racing through amid pounding drums and corrosive riffs, while stand-out single “Lipstick and Leather,” opts for woozy post-punk, heavy on synths and motorik rhythms. Every track rips with hooks and primal riffs, burning the patriarchy to the ground one riotous shout along anthem at a time. - DG