NOBRO has presented itself since its beginnings in 2014 as a punk group, but it is obvious on Set Your Pussy Free, the quartet is more punk in its cheeky attitude than in its music. And if it certainly draws on the heritage of the giants of the genre – Delete Delete Delete is the song the Ramones would have written if the internet had made them want to throw their computer out the window – there are many borrowings from hard rock, power pop and grunge. Said even more simply: NOBRO rocks.
It was June 2022, when the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade on abortion, that singer and bassist Kathryn McCaughey pronounced the fabulous phrase on stage which today gives its title to her group’s new album. But Set Your Pussy Free is the album of all freedoms, not just patriarchal conservatism.
Freedom from decency (Let’s Do Drugs, a bit as if Thin Lizzy had been part of the riot grrrl movement). Freedom from the pressure of having accomplished certain things by a certain age (I Don’t Feel Like It). Freedom from the fear of not being worthy of love (Gimme More – Party Through the Pain). Postage of this nono of dude who acts as our boyfriend (Where My Girls Atthe story of the genesis of the training).
With this first full-length album, NOBRO also provides the greatest concentration of rallying cries since the arena anthem compilation Jock Rock. That Kathryn, guitarist Karolane Carbonneau (stunning), percussionist Lisandre Bourdages (surprisingly essential) and drummer Sarah Dion (always as striking) shout out several of their choruses together, like so many calls for the overthrow of the established order or to sisterly solidarity obviously contributes to their electrifying effect.
“ I thought I’d be a better person by now / I thought I’d be a better version of myself », screams Kathryn McCaughey in her voice that scratches and feels good. This version, however, has nothing to envy of the best of current rock.
Extract of Let’s Do Drugs
Punk rock
Set Your Pussy Free
NOBRO
Dine Alone Records