Lipstick Stains – Discoteca
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Label: Emotions False Records
Format: Single | Digital
Duration: 02:18
Genre: Punk Rock / Garage Rock
Origin: Memphis, TN, USA
If you have ever worked at a bar or a restaurant, you might have had many chances to work with lipstick stains. Getting them off of the rims of a glass can be really annoying. In other places such as on clothes, furniture or skin, lipstick stains can be a real nuisance – and of course, they can be a trophy as well. This text is about something completely different though, as it deals with Tennessee’s Garage and Punk Rock quartet Lipstick Stains who have just released their latest single ‚Discoteca‘.
Punk Rock Smithery
Previous to the new single, Lipstick Stains have released one album („Open your Eyes„, Nov. 2019), and one EP („Controlled Chaos„, May 2021). The four-piece has furthermore toured and shared the stage with great acts from Punk, Garage, Indie Rock and more. One of their biggest strengths is to masterfully alloy a sound that contains features of both Hardcore and Pop Punk. A sonic product that comes with raw edges and spikes on the one side and a colourful, smooth surface on the other, allows them express shyness or insecurity while being loud and outspoken simultaneously. The latest output of this honestly emotional and autochthonously rough sound is the dizzy single ‚Discoteca‘.
As the vortex opens
‚Discoteca‘ begins with a dynamic Garage Punk bass line which then explodes in the middle of a fountain of fuzz and flickering lights. As the vocals sung by Xanthe follow the rotating movement of bass and guitars, the sound creates a boulder of dizziness and loss of balance which inevitably rolls into a dark vortex. It is the feeling of losing control about bodily functions due to too many alcoholic drinks, other intoxicating substances, fever, or a roofied drink. Lights turn into shooting stars and the floor becomes a trampoline while Lipstick Stains shake their listeners like an earthquake.
Piloting this hazardous ride, Xanthe changes between deep and partially growled vocals and piercing shouts. The latter stand out of the hazy soundscape like a lighthouse’s beam in thick fog. And thus, in the chorus, the vocalist screams against all negativity while the swampy atmosphere of the verses refers to demonic hands trying to drag down souls into their spheres. Over the short but thriling course of this song, the self-liberating and empowering motifs succeed, and although Lipstick Stain may not blow away all of the mist, the song ‚Discoteca‘ presents a healing process. Truly, a salutogenetic, emotional, and powerful Garage Punk anthem!
8/10 Mangoes
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