This is the exact sound I’ve been waiting for. The opening track of Paradise, White Lung’s most recent album (May 2016), is relentless, lurid and gritty—and it sets the tone for the remainder of the record. “Deadweight” holds nothing back—it comes out strong with unyielding riffs and commanding vocals. I am immediately riveted within the first few seconds.
The Vancouver three piece, White Lung, is vocalist Mish Barber-Way, Kenneth William on guitar, and Anne-Marie Vassiliou on drums. I initially learned of lead singer, Mish Barber-Way, because she also writes for Vice and i-D Magazine. I stumbled upon an article she wrote a while back about *our* favorite musician/celebrity—none other than the infamous Courtney Love. Barber-Way’s lyrics and vocal style are inherently reminiscent of bands like Hole and Babes in Toyland—so it was an obvious choice to check out a band that has a their own unique sound but also a current and fresh take on some of my favorite older bands.
A mash up of melodic punk, noise rock and pop punk, along with an unequivocal nod to female grunge bands of the 90s, this album is overtly empowering and aggressive. Paradise is undoubtedly a rupturing of normative female values and expectations—White Lung takes these conventions, subverts them, and unapologetically throws them back to the public eye (however the album also has a few pretty upbeat numbers).
“Below” is the second single off Paradise, which Barber-Way declares as the power ballad of the album—or in her words a “Stevie-Nicks-meets-Celine Dion ballad.” I guess this is the most ballad-esque this band can get because there is obviously some serious thrashing happening but also has synthy goth-pop vibe. The music video accurately depicts the themes and message White Lung attempts to convey—it deals with transient beauty and conventional expectations of women. This is represented in the video through a plethora of women sitting in a theater, all dressed as Marilyn Monroe, while they watch the band perform. It especially holds true with the lyrics “you know this means nothing if you go die alone/ they’ll bury your beauty/transient living stone.”
As of now, my favorite song off the album is “I Beg You” – “this is the death of me, I need our fantasy”—I don’t know why but I just love these lyrics. This song also has a synthy feel similar to “Below.” Another one of my favorites is definitely “Kiss Me When I Bleed,” which is like a twisted type of love song– “I will give birth in the trailer, huffing the gas in the air.” I mainly love it because of the white trash themes and lyrics but also because it is more storyline based, which is a different approach to White Lung’s earlier records.
The album closes with “Paradise,” which is essentially another love song. This is a great closing to the album because although Paradise is an inexorable force of power, is it also inherently a happy album. Most likely about her new husband, Austin Barber, the opening lyrics read, “I want to run with you/we’ll go so very far they’ll never hear our copulating/oh it’s impressive”– so there’s that.
It’s dancey, it’s sludgy, it’s unabashed, it’s powerful, and most importantly, it’s loud. This is that type of album so intense and energetic it makes you want to put on a torn leopard print dress and red lipstick and scream—or maybe that’s just me…
