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Jul 25, 2019 Necking By Lee Adcock

Like goths and feminists, some folks who claim to embrace “punk” don’t grasp the whole point of their own subculture. But thankfully, Vancouver scenesters Necking have earned their anti-establishment badges the proper way. With cocky sneers and solid guitar-slinging, this gang of miscreants poke holes in the double standards and stereotypes that still weigh women down.

Now, before we get too serious, let’s back up a minute. As far as debuts go, few explode with such cheeky attitude and verve like Cut Your Teeth. Necking can rant against anything with Dead Kennedys-esque glee, especially on the super-salty ode to gentrification “No Playtime.” Vocalist Hannah Karran matches the laser-honed fury of guitarist Nada Hayek with manic antics to echo the legends—in “Habbo Hotel,” you can see her high-fiving Poly Styrene as she screeches “Cybersex is gonna send me straight to hell!” with no ounce of shame. And nothing burns more than “Boss,” a lockstep hustle to call out predators (and the culture that enables them) in the workplace: “two years past 35/he can get it, he can get it, he can get it.”

But more often than not, the gang focus on anthems that help women find and validate themselves in a society that seeks to erase them. The gang point to each other on the satirical psychobilly romp “Rover,” as they overcome the need to crawl back to their crummy boyfriends. Elsewhere, “Still Exist” affirms their independence with a Coathangers-esque litany of day-to-day tasks: “Got my mom on the phone, I still exist/Ate dinner alone, I still exist.” And with the blistering “Drag Me Out” (surely a Sleater-Kinney reference), they plea to friends instead of lovers to pull them out of self-induced agoraphobia: “who am I now when I never leave my house?”

Punks resist the norms of their day. With Cut Your Teeth, Necking push back hard against anyone who might dare doubt their tenacity—for while our protagonists might make light of their struggle for independence, that doesn’t make their stance any less radical. (www.neckingband.bandcamp.com)

Author rating: 8/10