Not content with coining the term “Bimbocore”, the artist known as Scene Queen also peddles a rather nice line in metalcore/alternative rock. With a sound that’s at odds with a fluffy pink image, Scene Queen isn’t here to take prisoners and debut album Hot Singles In Your Area serves up fifteen lyrically-barbed tracks that conspire to become a conservative’s worst nightmare. Forthright, confrontational and unbridled (in short, everything good music should be) this isn’t music for the easily offended, but for those who like their music with a bit of bite, read on…

Attesting to the urgency of Scene Queen’s message, there’s no time to waste on fancy introductions or lengthy preambles, just one of the heaviest riffs known to man that heralds the arrival of opening track ‘BDSM’ and acts as a kind on club with which to beat the listener into submission. It’s an arresting way to kick things off and sets the tone for the coming storm. The unsavoury kind of backstage antics pioneered by bands such as Mötley Crüe have gone on for far to long and they deserved to be called out, and that’s precisely where ‘18+’ steps in. It’s hefty subject matter rolled up in hefty music as heavy metal riffs are delivered with riot grrrl attitude and hardcore energy is tempered with grunge pessimism. It is unrelated genres jarred together through sheer willpower and you feel that the resultan sound shouldn’t work, but some how it does. It’s Scene Queen’s (Hannah Collins) love of melody which stitches everything together and a pop sensibility that ensures no matter how eclectic and experimental things get, it remains catchy as hell.

Guest appearances from Wargasm (who add their unique dynamism to ‘Girls Gone Wild’) and The Ready Set on ‘POV’ bring a freshness and ensure things never become staid (not that there was ever a chance of that). Despite the (often crushingly) heavy nature of the songs contained herein, there’s a sense of fun emanating from the grooves and that’s primarily because of the effervescence that Hannah displays. Despite the oppressive weight of a patriarchal society weighing down upon her, this is one artist artist who refuses to be browbeaten and the result is a record which aims to recalibrate the world in a more equal manner, and that’s something we should all celebrate.

Righteous fury wrapped up in boundless fun, it’s time to check out Hot Singles In Your Area.

• Hot Singles In Your Area is released via Hopeless Records on 28th June 2024.
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Track List:

1. BDSM
2. 18+
3. Whips & Chains
4. Pink Pus Up Bra
5. Mutual Masturbation
6. Girls Gone Wild (Ft. Wargasm)
7. POV (Ft. The Ready Set)
8. Hot Singles In Your Area
9. MILF
10. Amateur
11. STUCK
12. Finger
13. PEG
14. Oral Fixation
15. Climax