The Regrettes
cut
Feel Your Feelings Fool!
, their 2017 debut, just a few months after the band's formation, bashing it out in a few quick sessions. Maybe that's why
seems so urgent: it gallops forward at a breakneck pace, the music recorded not long after it was written. Energy alone can make for a good album but, fortunately for
the Regrettes
, they're led by
Lydia Night
, who has a way with a hook and a knack for song construction.
Night
relies on certain classic pop tropes -- girl group choruses pepper the album, she celebrates garagey riffs, and "Picture Perfect" slides into a
Salt-N-Pepa
tribute -- and this fondness for old-fashioned songwriting gives
a sturdy understructure upon which
thread feminism, sneering angst, and ecstasy. All these intertwined emotions give the album an emotional punch that complements its musical rush, a confluence of nervy energy that could easily be interpreted as a reflection of
' youth. Perhaps the quartet members are all in their teens but they're preternaturally gifted as musicians, so
offers the best of both worlds: craft that endures combined with boundless excitement. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine