Her Parents are signed to Alcopop Records and feature members of Dananananaykroyd, Stairs To Korea, and Internet Forever. ‘Happy Birthday’ is set for release on the 13th May; it is the second of the band’s full length releases and is being issued on 12” vinyl. It is a ridiculously short record with 12 songs clocking in at just over 18 minutes – but it’s a journey I highly advise you all take at least once.
Immediately you’re thrown into a hard, fast, and snotty vocal takeover. It’s like The Blood Brothers and Pissed Jeans got together and created the fastest dumbest thing they could, but in the most fabulous possible way! I’m not sure this album is one that you’ll sit down and muse over, but in a live environment this could be one of the most fun things you could probably see. With members being a part of Dananananaykroyd it’s safe to say that this performed live will be something you’d want to witness.
No song on this record runs over 90 seconds and I think this is absolutely perfect. Bursts of duelling guitars, and stop start structures, this is a straight up 80’s punk album and a “fuck you” to the mainstream. Song titles include the ridiculous, ‘You’re Dead’, ‘Why Don’t You Just Fuck Off?’, ‘I Live In A Tree’ and ‘Cunt Dinosaurs’ and the lyrics to these aren’t much more imaginative – but that’s fun! This band probably don’t have a lot of longevity like bands previous akin to these (Help! She Can’t Swim spring to mind) but whilst they are here, they’re having fun and making music that can translate easily to a lot of younger audiences and I can envision crowds punching their firsts in the air and screaming along to this 20 minute wonder.
There is one track in particular that sticks out for me and that’s actually the final track of the album ‘Personal Christmas’. The guitar work is especially wonderful and the vocal takes on an even more emotionally angry momentum. The end of this track though, takes a small vocal choir singing harmonies with yelps of a torn man over the top and ends suitably abruptly – but I love it! I definitely understand what Her Parents are trying to do with this record, but I can’t help but think with a little more maturity involved, this could’ve been a record that would’ve appealed to far more people and a far higher age bracket.
Overall, I think everyone should listen to this at least once. It’s a journey you won’t forget in a hurry and if you’re lucky, you might even catch yourself finding one or two tracks particularly enjoyable and going back to them.
3.5/5
‘Happy Birthday’ by Her Parents is out on the 13th May on Alcopop! Records.
Her Parents links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp
Words by Rosie Kerr (@Rosiekerr)
