SMOKING GIVES YOU BIG TITS guts for starters

SMOKING GIVES YOU BIG TITS

Guts For Starters 

Self-release (28/07/23)

The debut album from one of the brightest acts on the DIY scene right now is a technicolour mix of post-punk, spoken-word, alt-rock, ska, and whatever else they bloody well like… welcome to Guts For Starters by Smoking Gives You Big Tits!

Political, personal, philosophical, comical, but never predictable, the album covers a diverse range of emotions and styles across its 25-minute run-time. Recent single Porky Pies exudes paranoia across the sludge of its verses, and has a fight or flight release on the double-time chorus. It’s like a musical Ghost Train crawling through the airwaves; creepy, yet in your face when you wheel around the corner. In contrast, the bubblegum pop-grunge of Dance Like You Know… is joyous and celebratory in its underdog status, with neat use of 7/8 timing on the chorus that leaves you feeling slightly disoriented, much like a nervous dancer trying to find the beat down at the local disco.

At times SGYBT hit radio-friendly heights. There’s a big, open riff and summery feel to My Favourite Fact About Maggie which acts as the Trojan horse to an honest truth behind the lyric. It also showcases the dynamic nature of Helen’s vocal talents. Equal parts power, finesse, and character, you would be forgiven for thinking this was a band with multiple lead vocalists. Melodic patterns align with a breathy vibrato on the verses, whilst the vitriol of the chorus is delivered in a full-throated, crust-punk bark. 

The album’s avant-grade personality pokes through on live favourite Uri Geller Couldn’t which meshes spoken-word monologue with excitable freak-out against a soundtrack of jazzy bass and winding guitar riffs. At the other end of the album is the pub-rock swing of the appropriately titled Beer Fear, chugging along both literally and metaphorically.

There’s a rich and playful approach to the musicianship, with stylistic change-ups sounding organic and unforced. Crunching metal guitars sit alongside twinkling arpeggios, big-band drums make way for unflinching D-Beat, and quivering vocals descend into ocean-size roar. Indeed, the album opens with a jam on that lesser-spotted rock & roll instrument… the kazoo! Behind the eclectic and esoteric sounds, however, lies a keen sense of rhythm and melody, the base ingredients for any music that you know and love.

So, Smoking Gives You Big Tits - keep on stretching the boundaries of the passionate and playful music you present to us… I can’t wait to catch y’all live!

Judge for yourself: https://smokinggivesyoubigtits.bandcamp.com/album/guts-for-starters