“Women are not supposed to be lions,” Mish Way wrote in a Talkhouse editorial, dissecting the appeal of Kat Bjelland's Babes In Toyland. “We’re supposed to be lambs, and lambs do not scream ‘motherfucker’ while tearing open a Rickenbacker like a beast ripping the feathers off its prey.”
Way’s band, White Lung, do not give one single fuck about your expectations. ‘Deep Fantasy’, their third full-length, is a record that, due to the fact it’s being released by Domino rather than Deranged, who put out the excellent ‘Sorry’ a couple of years ago, arrives with a tag from fans who prefer their punk to be bound by a rigid set of rules and regulations.
In reality, though, White Lung are a band with things to say, a band who want to open a discourse with as many people as possible. There’s more at stake here than a keyboard purist’s definitions and ‘Deep Fantasy’ is, in fact, a more direct, uncompromising proposition than its predecessor. It’s hell-bent on ensuring that its messages are heard.
It’s an album about redressing the balance and knocking over archaic structures, building from Way’s position as an increasingly influential feminist voice. Her lyrics are complicated but barbed, in a similar manner to her prose writing, with each metaphor reflecting surroundings that are pretty fucked.
From substance abuse and the weight of depression on Drown With The Monster to body dysmorphia, on the standout Snake Jaw, Way is confrontational and whip smart, willing to impart something of herself in order to encourage a dialogue. “You don't take me, you won’t make me,” she drawls at the driving close of I Believe You, a searing, defiant takedown of rape culture.
As it was on ‘Sorry’, Kenneth William’s guitar is the record’s counterpoint, his virtuoso riffs providing jagged melodies that play off Way’s words and a powerhouse display behind the kit from Anne-Marie Vassiliou. This is the best that White Lung have ever sounded; more powerful and aggressive yet absolutely in control.
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