Label: Marshall Records
Released: 13th October 2023
Dream Nails are not backwards in coming forwards. Reinvigorating riot grrrl punk since debut release ‘DIY’ in 2016, they’re back with their venomous second album, ‘Doom Loop’.
On first listen, it might seem like ‘Doom Loop’ is a pretty depressing album. Musically, it could fit into any of the previous five decades, carrying the swagger of 70s punk and pairing it with lyrics deeply rooted in a queer, feminist struggle that is as needed now as it was then. ‘Good Guy’ is a tirade against the age-old image of passive but predatory men, while closing track ‘Time Ain’t No Healer’ lays bare the undying devastation caused by trauma. The timelessness of this album speaks both to Dream Nails’ talent for social commentary and to how far society hasn’t come over the last fifty years.
When you dig under the surface, though, hope and humour is the lifeblood of this record. ‘Geraniums’ is an ode to the women who started the band’s members on the path to self-love, whilst ‘Monster’ demands that you “find the light and crack it open”. The portrayal of misogyny on social media in ‘Sometimes I Do Get Lonely, Yeah’ is as satirically hilarious as it is spot on, highlighting both Dream Nails’ intelligence and the insanity of incels.
This record is a mission statement for Dream Nails, carrying one clear agenda and refusing to divert away from it. At no point is this boring, though, with the band punching out their argument in their wholly unique and effervescent style. ‘Doom Loop’ cements Dream Nails’ position as one of Britain’s brightest and best punk bands.
