Conceived in the avant-garde brain space of Felix and Sloane Lenz and executed with a sense of unpredictability foreshadowed by their superstitious name, Lord Friday the 13th sculpts an experimental and invigorating strain of punk rock on their debut EP.
Forged at Ireland’s Bed Rock Studios with Pete O’Hanlon and Evan Walsh – guitarist and drummer of now-defunct mod-rock breakouts the Strypes, the September release cements the polished chaos that the sibling-led outfit has waged upon hometown stages since their 2019 formation: aggressive lyrics over cutting-edge chords, motorized by electric girl power.
Opener and first clemency “Bigots Beware” stands as an anthem of the modern social wars, shedding light on people’s inability to accept those different from themselves through an alternating rhythmic pace and spoken intonations against hate and judgment. “I don’t want to annihilate those people,” Felix said of those the lyrics are directed at. “I want to wake them up.”
“Patent Leather” delivers a glossy mask to the crew’s self-proclaimed “dollar store trash-glam-punk” genre where big sister Sloane cuts through the turbulence with her voltaic guitar dynamics. Meanwhile, “Silver Juice” – an homage to Silver Jews’ David Berman – conjures a Rocky Horror-esque feel, a lethargic creep, and Felix’s vocoder delivery to soundtrack poltergeist clientele of a purgatorial shopping mall.
Final entry to the freshman diary, “St. Judy” full-circles to the band’s anarchic design of sharp and coarse sound, both inspiring and intimidating. The perfect cap to a hot, fresh take on nostalgic antiestablishment music.
This article appears in October 22 • 2021.