Lock up your My Little Pony and any sharp objects left lying around, because Toxic Lipstick are back. With little time to spare in fact – Prisoner Of Hormones represents Synthia J Popp and Cyndii Valentine’s second album in 12 months, a time they’ve spent relocated in Japan’s noise / breakcore capital Osaka before only recently returning to their homebase in sunny Brisbane. The resultant time spent amongst such contemporaries in Osaka as Ove Naxx (with whom the girls recently undertook an Australian East coast tour) has clearly invigorated their furious electro-thrash attack, with this second album presenting 12 new tracks over a furious total running length of just 26 minutes. As for the lyrical subject matter, listeners to last year’s debut offering When The Dove’ Cry will already have some inkling of what to expect, with Prisoner Of Hormones picking up the baton from that previous record with themes ranging from underage lust, heroic drug use and menstruation to pony grooming.
Curiously enough, Prisoner Of Hormones comes across as one of Dual Plover’s most “accessible’ releases in some time, a description likely to be more indicative of the confrontational nature of that imprint’s release aesthetic than any intended approachability on Toxic Lipstick’s part. Opening track “Slut C*nt Hairbrush’ crashes proceedings open with a bang, the girls’ processed teencore yelps riding a stiffly robotic electro-rockabilly backing of analogue synths and tinny-sounding drum machine rhythms, before “Dear Diary’ sees fellow Brisbane noiseniks Anal Cookie bringing the noise on a studio collaboration that places screwed-up hiphop beats beneath Synthia’s trash-talk rapping (“Being a teen is really tuff / especially when you’ve got an itchy muff / all I wanna do is get fully laid / mum does too and she gets paid.”)
From there, “Truth Dare’ unleashes a furious volley of rapid-fire breakcore rhythms beneath swirling “Flight Of The Bumblebee’s-esque synths in a rave-damaged slice of thrash that’s had too much red cordial, while “C*ntry Lovin’ even manages a sly digression into inbred electro hoedown territory (“I love you like my daughter / even though you are my sister”). Like many of their fellow Dual Plover brethren, Toxic are undoubtably a primarily visual prospect that’s best experienced live in person, where you can “aah” at their matching full-body Doremon pyjama suits and freak at the drooled fake blood. Prisoner Of Hormones certainly represents the perfect audio souvenir, and easily represents a stronger, more diverse collection than its predecessor. In the mood for gratuitous eighth grade toilet / sex humour over speedcore tempos? Let’s hope these two sluzzas never graduate Year Nine.
Chris Downton
