Album Review: Miss June - 'Bad Luck Party'
‘Bad Lucky Party’ is the audible personification for the birth of a chaotic entity which is progressively maturing, and ultimately, finding its place in a world as distorted and ambivalent as the forces that control it.
Miss June are a four-piece from Auckland who are purveyors of the noisy-punk movement. Their debut EP found frontwoman Annabel Liddell being placed as the voice for a generation of young females, through her feminist lyrics and no-nonsense attitude. Now, four years later, it feels as though ‘Bad Luck Party’ a continuation on the theme and a celebration of confidence and strength. Littered throughout the album is a kind of rage and nervousness in claiming empowerment that seethes beneath biting riffs.
Miss June fleet between influences such as Sonic Youth, Hole, Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Liddell channels her best Kathleen Hanna for moments in ‘Two Hits’ and ‘Please Waste My Time’ with the shrill, fast-paced, punchy vocal delivery; but it’s in the softer elements of ‘Orchid’ and ‘Double Negative’ that she truly shines. There’s a haziness to describing the experiences of being an underdog, and the person who is always abused and taken for granted, in ‘Orchid’ which eventually rips into searing guitar, and eager vocals that borderline moans on yearning.
If ‘Bad Luck Party’ can be split into two things, then it is the all-too-human experiences of rage that stems from the frustration of being a person who find themselves disadvantaged based on circumstances out of their control; and the softness that comes from encountering warmth from another person, no matter how short it may last. ‘Anomaly’ comes across as a supernova that explores the lust of a fleeting encounter which is intense at first, but dies out quite quickly. The fun of this, is that the song actually transpires in the reverse. Miss June have released a debut that is personal, relatable, and filled with bangers no matter what mood you may be in.
Words by Tyler Damara Kelly
DEBUT ALBUM 'BAD LUCK PARTY' OUT SEPTEMBER 6TH ON FRENCHKISS RECORDS.
Full 2019 Bad Luck Party Tour Dates:
September 6th - San Fran Bath House - Wellington
September 7th - Galatos - Auckland
September 11th - The Vanguard - Sydney
September 18th - Maze - Berlin
September 19th - Blue Shel - Cologne
September 20th - Reeperbahn Festival - Hamburg
September 23rd - Cinetol - Amsterdam
September 24th - Trix - Antwerp
September 28th - The Flapper - Birmingham
September 29th - Yes - Manchester
September 30th - Headrow House - Leeds
October 1st - Poetry Club - Glasgow
October 2nd - Sneaky Pete's - Edinburgh
October 5th - Tiny Rebel - Cardiff
October 6th - Port Mahon - Oxford
October 7th - Rough Trade, Bristol
October 9th - Latest Music, Brighton
October 10th - The Lexington, London
October 14th - Rough Trade - Brooklyn, NY
October 15th - Once - Boston, MA
October 16th - DC9 - Washington, DC
October 17th - Kung Fu Necktie - Philadelphia, PA
October 19th - Velvet Underground - Toronto, ON
October 21st - Subterranean - Chicago, IL
October 23rd - The Basement - Nashville, TN
October 24th - The Earl - Atlanta, GA
October 27th - Bronze Peacock - Houston, TX
October 28th - Hotel Vegas - Austin, TX
November 1st - Valley Bar - Phoenix, AZ
November 2nd - Morrocan - Los Angeles, CA
November 4th - Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco, CA