Wet LipsWet Lips
Hysterical

- Frenetic Melbourne punk trio Wet Lips are not here to fuck spiders in any shape or form. The all female punk rock saviours straddle the line between pissed-off, impassioned aggression and a true sense of compassion, femininity and inclusion in a musical landscape still littered with bro's getting by and getting off in their own exclusive circle jerk. Wet Lips sound like the modern extension of the original riot grrrl movement, which almost thirty years on, seems overwhelmingly bizarre to me that there's still such a shocking gender disparity, something Wet Lips are forcing people to take account for.

Fronted primarily by guitarist Grace Kindellan, and assisted on vocals from bassist Jenny McKechnie, Wet Lips debut full-length was recorded with now departed and multi-talented drummer Mohini Hillyer, who left the group to focus on their most marvellous and very different synth pop project HABITS, which after delving head deep into myself, no one could blame them for (HABITS are sick btw, go check them out). Punk never dies though and if I've learned anything about drummers, alas, they come and go like glorious snowflakes in the morning sun.

With five years passing since their initial shows as Wet Lips, the band's self titled full-length debut has seemingly had its share of issues actually seeing the light of day, although I have a funny suspicion it wouldn't all have been so hard if their genders were flipped. In the wise words of Fred DurstYou want something done right / You gotta do it yourself, and that's exactly what Wet Lips did; teaming with longtime publicist Amanda Vitartas to form "anti-bullshit", diversity embracing Hysterical Records; with Wet Lips' full-length only the second release and hopefully just the beginning of many great things to come from the burgeoning label.

Good intentions are great, but also meaningless without the brass ovaries to back them up. Wet Lips haven't spent five years simply stockpiling sexism and disrespect, their debut is a thunderous journey of unrelenting anthemic punk rock that jams ten stellar joints in about twenty five minutes. The other day on an extended and hazy stroll through the backstreets of Brisbane I must have listened to this record five times straight through, finger firmly and forever planted on repeat. It's tenacious, smack-you-in-face, rapturous punk rock kicking against the pricks of marginalisation, sexualisation and apathy. Wet Lips share the same angsty lust for life that fuelled the late, great Jay Reatard until he unintentionally partied himself to death. They embrace similar ideals as Brisbane's Undead Apes; are a slightly tighter take on Red Red Krovvy's '70's thrash punk and aren't worlds apart from McKechnie's other group, Cable Ties: a band that sounds like the gorgeous love child of Sleater-Kinney and Mclusky; they're also a group that has coincidentally just happened to release their debut full-length not even a month ago and I went suitably ga-ga for that, too.

Wet Lips debut full-length is both a catalyst for change and a call to arms for any marginalised musical entity to keep on kicking and striving for change. It's a welcomed and necessary addition to Australia's always stellar punk rock landscape and another positive, yet painstakingly slow shift in Australia's musical gender imbalance. Wet Lips' punk rock hysteria certainly makes a hell of a lot of sense to me and if it can inspire a relatively non-descript, almost thirty-year-old white man-child whose true understanding of being marginalised and menstruation is pretty piss poor, it boggles my mind that there are still such blatant barriers to entry for passionate and talented individuals, regardless of gender. Wet Lips are here if you need, and hopefully here to stay.

- Jay Edwards.

Wet LipsWet Lips

Chris CobcroftNew Releases Show

Slowdiveeverything is alive

Schkeuditzer KreuzNo Life Left

Magic City CounterpointDialogue

Public Image LimitedEnd Of World

SejaHere Is One I Know You Know

DeafcultFuture of Illusion

CorinLux Aeterna

FingerlessLife, Death & Prizes

Jack LadderTall Pop Syndrome

LIVE
100