Toronto art-punks Bad Waitress make a daring debut with No Taste.
On first impression, Bad Waitress appear to be the latest revival of a confrontational continuum that originally stretched from L7 and Babes In Toyland to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Gossip. But while No Taste certainly doesn’t lack fierce riot grrrl energy or grungy melody, the Canadian quartet manage to cram sufficient sprawling invention into its half-hour to suggest something rather more idiosyncratic.
Tunes like 12 Years Old and Lacerate boast appealingly direct choruses and driving, heads-down riffs, but also sneak in offbeat bass work reminiscent of the jazz-punk of fellow Canadians NoMeansNo. Strawberry Milkshake mixes trashy accessibility with touches of Sonic Youth’s uncanny atmospherics, the latter also recalled on Standards, where Kali-Ann Butala adopts a vocal glower akin to Kim Gordon’s ineffable cool. There’s a hypnotic quality to delirious opener Rabbit Hole, while Yeah Yeah Yeah is irresistibly chaotic, a phrase that sums up much of this band’s appeal.
But not all of it: around halfway through No Taste, two key elements make themselves known. The first is that Bad Waitress can really swing, as heard on the lurid, creepy-crawl blues of Manners. Secondly, just as Bad Waitress mix and match styles to great effect, Kali sounds great when her vocals head in a more melody-driven direction, lending poignancy to comparatively introspective moments like Live In Reverse and Restless Body. Best of all, on Delusions Of Grandeur, the band summon the spirit of Dischord’s Revolution Summer bands alongside one of Kali’s most soulful performances. That might be No Taste’s peak, but every single one of these songs flags up Bad Waitress as a genuinely exciting prospect.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Witch Fever, ARXX
No Taste is released on September 3 via Royal Mountain
