“I have died, I have lived / A thousand times.”‘A Fight Breaks Out in the Karaoke Bar’ and ‘Rude Awakening’ set the scene straight away: chaotic parties that are supposed to be fun but mostly suck; scanty outfits that are designed to look sexy but only amplify insecurities; the wee morning hours, still hazy from intoxication, spent feeling unseen and lonely. And, through it all, the horrifying prospect that this is as good as it gets:
“Oh, how fun it is / You’re never gonna be this young again.”
The title track, ‘Spunky!‘, is the record’s standout single that would make Kathleen Hanna proud. Likely written from the perspective of the “Cool Girl” that the album’s protagonist desperately wishes to be, the song is an irresistibly danceable declaration of feminine independence and rock stardom.
“I was born in the pit! / I gave birth in the pit! / I never shave my pits / Let me swallow your spit!”is the stuff of a riot grrrl anthem that nearly holds a candle to “Rebel Girl.”
As the album’s tone grows darker, ‘Better Than Life’ and ‘Mother’s Prayers’ explore the soul-crushing loneliness that grows out of negative self-worth and the twisted kind of comfort in this loneliness.
“I keep the curtains drawn / Don’t wanna be seen / Everybody’s mean!”The latter song, however, ends in a triumphant, Iris-by-the-Goo-Goo-Dolls-esque section that calls for a renewed sense of hope: the narrator rises from rock bottom and declares:
“There’s more to life / I can’t just leave me behind.”
‘The Star’ gives the story a reluctantly optimistic ending.
“Don’t know how I got here / I blinked and now I’m 23 / Didn’t think I could make it out alive / Past the age of 18.”Calling back to the opening track, the narrator now sees her future with newfound clarity.
“The road is really endless / For once I see it clear / There’s a world for me to see / Can’t go back to what I used to be.”I, like Sentana, am 23 years old. I never really partied in high school – I got away with being a closeted queer nerd without getting bullied too badly – but by no means did I escape the unrealistic expectations of teenage girlhood and the devastating self-hatred that arose when I inevitably couldn’t meet them. Hearing Sentana sing “I look in the mirror and I like what I see”, after withstanding all that anguish, let me reflect on how far my generation has come since surviving the roller coaster that was teen-hood. I hope making Spunky! allowed the members of Grrrl Gang to reflect on their own growth since their formation in 2016, and I can’t wait to hear more from them. Follow Grrrl Gang on instagram | spotify | youtube | bandcamp