A couple of weeks ago, I attended a gig in Brighton featuring several up-and-coming rock bands, and I was blown away by the headliner, Porcelain Doll. They’re a female-fronted alt-rock band with a terrific, punk energy, and that night they debuted several new songs from their upcoming EP, ‘Teeth’. Now that the EP is finally out, I’ve become enamoured with this band and the way they create danceable and hooky songs with dark lyrical content.

On a first listen, I was immediately drawn to the lyrics, which seem to come from a deeply anxious and paranoid place. There’s imagery of teeth falling out, nooses wrapped around necks, bruises, guns, and scars multiplying and spreading across skin. All of this violence is written in a way that feels both deeply intimate and terrifying, like we’re being invited to witness something we really shouldn’t be. Freja, the band’s lead singer, has a deep, authoritative and passionate vocal performance throughout the EP, and this matches the lyrical themes really effectively.

It is doubly impressive that the band have found a way to sandwich this dark lyrical content into incredibly catchy hooks and instantly memorable guitar and bass riffs. ‘Everybody Wants Me Dead’ is perhaps the best example of this; the melody is so well-written, the vocal harmonies are gorgeous, and the instrumental performances are equal parts groovy and menacing. The standout track for me though is Bruise, the EP’s closing track. The song begins slow and sentimental and eventually builds, layering vocal harmonies and distorted guitars in a way that is reminiscent of dream-pop and shoegaze bands like Slowdive. The washed out guitars drenched in reverb during the outro are laden with melancholy, and are another example of how well this band is able to integrate deeply sentimental moments throughout their songs.

There is a humongous power to these songs when they’re performed live; everything is dialled up to 11, and you can physically feel the blown-out bass riffs hitting your chest while the drums crash and cascade throughout the room. But on the EP, particularly on Paranoid, these elements have been mixed too quietly, and I feel this doesn’t capture how truly bombastic this band’s sound is in a live setting. I would love to see Porcelain Doll take their studio mixes further, creating something even more dynamic, cacophonous and noisy.

If you’re ever in Brighton and see an advert for an upcoming Porcelain Doll gig, I urge you to buy tickets immediately. I can’t wait to see this band develop and grow further, and I feel they are crafting a sound that makes them stand out in Brighton’s alt-rock scene.