Review: Dolores Haze's ‘The Haze Is Forever’
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- Written by Rita Braby
Stockholm’s lo-fi punk four-piece Dolores Haze have recently released their new album ‘The Haze Is Forever’, a collection of their sharp and magnetic DIY-style punk/pop.
The band’s name, Dolores Haze, is inspired by one of the 20th century’s most notorious female characters: Lolita from Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel. The all-female band are playing with this image of female sexual empowerment – they are almost like Pussy Riot, without the clear feminist protest agenda. Their Facebook page proudly states their genre as “goth sex, diva couture”, a sound that’s hard to pin down, but it’s this unapologetic and brash sensibility that is at the heart of ‘The Haze Is Forever’.
The band have been compared to Le Tigre, Kathleen Hanna’s riot grrrl group from the late 90’s/early 2000’s, and once you know this, the similarities are hard to ignore. There’s that distorted, electroclash sound, the untrained yet beautiful vocals, and the in-your-face passion underneath it all.
Reaching Placebo is a gloomy but punchy start to the album, with sludgy bass and a hard-hitting chorus. Lead vocalist Groovy Nickz shouts the repetitive chorus with abandon, oozing that cool I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude. The title track The Haze Is Forever follows and has the soul of early punk chaos, with cymbal-heavy percussion and simplistic, loose guitar.
Touch Me, however,has a shoe-gaze vibe, with the slow, consistent tempo, and slightly ethereal, echoing vocals. Groovy Nickz’ voice on this track is reminiscent of Brisbane band Major Leagues’ vocalist - delicate and indifferent. It would be wrong to call this a lighter track on the album, but it definitely has less of the fast-paced chaos, which isn’t a bad thing.
Tracks Crazy About Me, Milk, and I Got My Gun are the songs particularly reminiscent of Le Tigre, with more of an electronic edge and synth samples galore. Crazy About Me is definitely a highlight, with its catchy chorus and underlying irreverent, assertive tone. Milk is a minute long burst of frenzied guitar and passionate, piercing vocals, giving a great snapshot of the band’s brash punk sound, while I Got My Gun has Le Tigre-esque distorted synth beats and biting, angry vocals coming from Nickz.
The album finishes with The Garden and its sinister, repetitive refrain “you’ll love me when you’re dead”, clearly showing this is a band that wants to ruffle a few feathers, while playing right into the riot grrrl attitude. All the tracks are relatively short, but none are lacking in punch, with Nickz vocals ringing in your ears after all is said and done. ‘The Haze Is Forever’ is an album with equal amounts of bite and beauty.
Dolores Haze’s ‘The Haze Is Forever’ is out now via Woah Dad!
