Blog Post
The Anti-Queens - 'Disenchanted' Stomp Records
Album Reviewed by Iain McArthur • Jun 07, 2024
The Anti-Queens are a new name for me but they’ve been going for over a decade in Toronto, Canada so they know what they’re doing. And what they are doing is a lovely mix of punk rock energy, feminine fire and pop-punk sweetness. As the name suggests, they sound f**k all like either Queen or dainty pop chart queens, but they do have that raspy punk edge of The Distillers, combined with the pop sensibilities of Joan Jett and the good-time jauntiness of Sum 41 all wrapped up in one package on their second full-length album.
The obvious highlight is the genuinely great ‘Overthinking’ which is a highly relatable pop-punk classic with a great video where sunshine and cute puppies meet punky interludes and great guitar work. The ladies behind the band are Emily Bones and Valerie Knox who write the songs, sing and play guitar and they’ve worked with Steve Rizun and Dave Baksh at Drive Studios to make this record.
There are plenty other pop-punk goodies on the album like the “bad romance” of ‘Love’s Heavy Burden’, ‘Freeloading’ and the first single ‘Doomed Again’.
Elsewhere, the band really cut loose with some venomous punky fury on tunes like ‘’Owe U Shit’, ‘Crusade’ and the bass-heavy ‘Bulldozer’. They get pretty angry on ‘Saviour’ - “Go on and be my saviour, I f**king dare you”, and they get a bit “Riot Grrrl” with the edgy feminism of ‘Apocalypse She’ – “she, will not behave, or stay in her lane”. Even as a mere bloke, I did enjoy that one, even if I did feel my balls shrinking up into my abdomen in self-defence!
There is plenty of energy and attitude on this album and much to enjoy. The band seem to tour a lot in North America and maybe one day we’ll see them here but for now, just grab yourself a listen to some fine new Canadian punk rock.