Tell me girls in grunge died off in the ’90s and I’ll happily inform you that the word grunge was merely a byproduct of the human need to label just about everything. Be it Marilyn Manson or Mark Arm who coined the term first, it’s boring, and not befitting the bands whose influence can be heard in Militant Girlfriend’s brand new self-titled EP.
While I hate comparing bands to others who have gone before, I do so in the way that no two bands are the same, and every member of them is uniquely brilliant of their own accord. It’s not that Militant Girlfriend sound like they’re from the early ’90s, or other bands I’ve reviewed have been from a similar era or different, but that they could, back in the day, very easily have shared a bill with the likes of Veruca Salt and L7 or 7 Year Bitch (or at one of our Get in her Ears nights, which bring about the same feeling – which they did a few months ago!).
Militant Girlfriend’s solidly chromatic harmonies give their self-proclaimed queer as fuck rock music layers, and their voices work well together, often spinning different tales in the same few words like their forebears Post and Gordon or the Deals. Their EP proves that, in music, minimalism can be everything and more, that all a girl needs to do to start her own band is pick up a guitar and do it. Strong riffs, great vocals, highlight of the collection ‘Marge’ is like vintage Radiohead and Mazzy Star were thrown into a blender and then poured into a fine pint glass with a fancy design. This is a track that stands out on a brilliant album by a band that know how to work: together.
Militant Girlfriend is available to buy now on Bandcamp.
Em Burfitt
@fenderqueer
Get In Her Ears 