The Regrettes - Feel Your Feelings Fool!

The Regrettes
Feel Your Feeling Fool!
2017
Spotify

Riot girl, brat pop, punk wop, pop punk there are a myriad of terms you could use to describe LA rockers The Regrettes. Yet their music really skews towards the Brat Pop side of things while still holding on to some strong punk roots. The music is upbeat, fast and usually peppered with subtle digs at society as a whole. "A Living Human Girl" goes on to describe just how "normal" the narrator is in the grand scheme of things while swaying and rocking away. If we are looking for something similar HOLYCHILD might be a place to start, but their music is very much more on the pop side of things. The lyrical content however is very similar and though The Regrettes push the pace much higher. With the bright guitars and pounding drums The Regrettes are able to lay incredible savage lines out there yet they still sound sugary sweet. It is a trick that in the hands of a novice can be incredibly off putting, but when it is done right man it really works. The songs are well within the punk time range rarely reaching three minutes which give them their own little space without totally affecting the album one way or another. "Jukebox Baby" is one of those tracks that forces itself in, makes it's own space and then gets the fuck out of dodge before you can even catch your breath.

However pace is not the only thing that Feel Your Feelings Fool! has going for it. With a title like that you would expect something sappy and moody, but you get the opposite bright fun fuck the world kind of stuff. "Pale Skin" is the place where they slow things down, and the song is over five minutes long, and it feels appropriate but does not have the same punch the rest of the record does. This song in particular takes a much more psychedelic rock position that the band makes work perfectly fine, but it doesn't fit the whole vibe. It's almost like you were listening to a punk album and then Broods or Daughter popped in for a quick sesh. It is a blip though and really does not take away from the rest of the record, it just shows that The Regrettes can change up their sound if they want to and aren't really beholden to anything or anyone. Quite the punk rock idea huh? Feel Your Feelings Fool! is really the first out of no where surprise this year and it is a good one. I cannot wait to see what these guys do next, because whatever it is I'm sure it will be fun as hell.

8.0 out of 10