Doe are a London-based DIY punk trio and their debut album, Some Things Last Longer Than You, is a cathartic belly-scream for the overlooked, the ignored and the patronised.
It crushes those who seek to undermine; it tears down the prejudiced; and it kicks the face off anyone foolish enough to make assumptions they have no grounds to make. (Not you obviously, you’re reading this review, you’re probably nice.)
It’s also a phenomenally tight, deeply addictive and catchy-as-fuck 30 minutes of pure punk pleasure.
The first half of Some Things Last Longer Than You contains its most immediate tracks in ‘Monopoly’ and ‘Sincere’. The utter joy and catchiness of each counter-balances beautifully with the interweaving guitars and eviscerating yet emotionally honest lyrics (“I never liked your family anyway / they used to cheat at Monopoly every time we would play”). ‘No. 1’ is all crashing guitars, furious vocals and shares a similar DNA to Sleater-Kinney‘s equally galvanising ‘Call the Doctor’.
However it’s in its second half where the album truly opens up, moving into more expansive territories, with all the thrill of punk but with deeper textures and melodies.
‘Anywhere’ is exhilarating, musically rich and moves with the force of a truck. ‘Corin’ is perhaps the most fitting tribute to THE BEST VOCALIST EVER IN THE HISTORY OF ALL MUSIC YES EVEN MIKE PATTON – by recreating the sheer electrifying veraciousness of Corin Tucker’s vocals in song form. Incidentally, seeing Corin Tucker perform live will ruin you for other vocalists – however Doe’s Nicola Leel is edging into Tucker’s stratosphere, especially with her performance on the inspiring ‘Last Ditch’.
‘Something to Tell You’ ends a perfect half-hour in Doe’s company with a metal-edged confession, which again proves 10 times over that the ‘indignancy mixed with harmonies’ template now entirely belongs to Doe. 4/5
Doe have also picked their 10 favourite horror movies for our Bandpicked series, so read that now!
Check out more latest music releases in our album reviews section, including Preoccupations’ self-titled album.
