London’s Dream Nails had already wowed audiences across the country with their spiky live show and now they’re set to release their debut self-titled album via Alcopop! Records. It’s packed with empowering messages of solidarity and support for the LGBTQ+ scene while also offering an insight into – and a rally against – the daily struggles and injustices that members face.
There’s no messing about with Dream Nails as they deliver a statement of intent from the opening ‘Affirmations (Skit)’; this counts down into ‘Jillian’ a vibrant anthem filled with bouncy punk-pop riffs, a beastly bass line and shout-words about going on holiday with the aforementioned and having the best of times in a luxury villa. ‘Corporate Realness’ clocks in at under 2 minutes with guitar work that’s reminiscent of Graham Coxon’s solo work while recent single ‘Text Me Back (Chirpse Degree Burns)’ has a bit of label mates Art Brut about it as Janey Starling offers stream-of-consciousness thoughts on a failed relationship and her desperation to reignite this particular flame: ‘Did she ghost me?’; ‘Two blue ticks, two blue ticks, at first it was a kiss and now it’s two blue ticks’. There’s a frenetic and frantic passion running through both ‘Vagina Police’ and ‘DIY’ – the latter of which finds Janey giving a pep talk to both herself and the listener: ‘I can fix a light bulb. Do it yourself!’; ‘You are good enough, you are strong enough, you are smart enough’.
There’s a summer love shining through ‘Swimming Pool’ and ‘This is the Summer’ as the band reminisce on dates and all of the traits of the hottest months of the year – supermarkets running out of ice, increased traffic… ‘Payback’ has a grungey tone as the band say ‘One day we’ll make you pay’ and vow to not let someone get away with their past actions: ‘Hey Mister, get your hands off my sister’. The anger at the hyprocritical nature of society reaches a head on ‘Kiss My Fist’. Written about the awful homophobic attack that took place on a London bus last year when a couple refused to kiss, the song has the zesty potency of Fight Like Apes as Dream Nails ask why so many people are homophobic even when ‘girl-on-girl’ remains the most popular form of porn: ‘You like us on the video, you like us when you have control. You want an on-screen fantasy but you hate us holding hands in the street’. They strike upon the right answer when they passionately sing in unison: ‘You fear us more than we fear you’.
With so many important things to say and riffs to spare, it won’t be long before you fall under the spell of these self-described punk witches.
