Red Scare Industries – April 17, 2020
Is 8 minutes long enough to prove your mettle? Yes!
Fitting 3 songs into less than 8 minutes is not an easy task, doing so while showing off 3 separate genres is damn near impossible. The Lippies have managed to do so impressively on their most recent EP; Pop ‘N’ Lockdown available now on Red Scare Industries. Led by front-woman and self-proclaimed tantrum thrower, Tonia Broucek, The Grand Rapids based four-piece cram this seven-minute, nine second album with intelligent anthems, whimsical novelties and fiery hardcore.
The first track “On Your Mind” doesn’t need its full 4 minutes to spell out their feelings on our esteemed leader, needing only 16 seconds to literally spell it all out. The Lippies channel Tilt while defiantly raising their middle fingers directly into the President’s face with smart, biting lyrics aimed at Donald Trump’s privileged upbringing, perverse attraction to his daughter, divisiveness and hate speech. When she asks “Who knew six-foot three could be so small” Tonia’s voice is equal parts venom and longing for leadership.
“Get Out of Bed,” quickly reminds us that the album was recorded early in the COVID-19 pandemic, before the cabin fever many contracted throughout shelter-in-place orders. A one-woman novelty track, featuring Tonia and her ukulele whimsically strumming and shouting for 40 seconds about her desire for a lazy day lounging in bed. While the exact same song released 8 months ago, would have felt silly and unnecessary, there is a nostalgic relevance today in the rustic way a picture of people saddled up at a bar would be.
The album closer, “I’m a Reactor,” somehow sounds even more nuclear the name suggests. Frenetic and brutal, this is an Avengers-style, feminist-punk jaunt that really shoves The Lippies’ message of unity, solidarity and basic decency down the throats and leaves us like Oliver Twist sheepishly asking for more. “Open sores not open arms” is a pretty direct description of the current political landscape, and The Lippies do not hold back from calling out their displeasure in this divisiveness.
The Pop ‘N’ Lockdown EP is a fast paced, genre-blending feminist punk opus, squeezed into less than 8 in your face minutes that attacks the listener from all sides. If you’ve ever found your Spotify playlist seamlessly shuffle from The Lunachicks to Kid Dynamite, this EP (and every previous release by the Lippies) are up your alley. This is the rare EP that feels fully fleshed out and gives a fair and defined preview of the musicianship and intelligence of the performers in a shotgun blast to the senses.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
