M(h)aol are interview in Issue 157 of Loud And Quiet. Subscribe now to receive a copy with a free, exclusive Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs flexi disc, or buy the issue by itself here. 

Although so much music of this genre comes from a place of the gritty and the guttural, out of the abundance of feminist punk, it’s rare to find an album that truly stands out beyond indisputable archetypes. Thankfully, on their debut record, Dublin group M(h)aol have produced a memorable effort that strives for more than sprechgesang and four chords.

Attachment Styles opens with ‘ASKING FOR IT’, which is imbued with an essence of The Slits. Chugging basslines, persistent drumming and unsettling guitars eventually crash into each other in an act of true visceral catharsis; it’s part-punk and part-hardcore, with the delivery of vocals and lyricism matching the tension of the music. Though what’s being addressed is heavy in all aspects, there is still an unsettling, grooving dynamic underneath.

Several tracks on Attachment Styles feel like spoken-word pieces, which actively gives space for the spellbinding music to exhibit itself. Metallic guitars grate viscerally on ‘NO ONE EVER TALKS TO US’, with ‘THERAPY’ and ‘NICE GUYS’ featuring refreshing, understated time signatures (perhaps too rudimentary in parts).

Despite the lyrics, as important as they are, at times feeling almost too generalisable, Attachment Styles on the whole is an undeniably transgressive and complex record, where lyrics quoting Carrie Bradshaw swirl in ambient grunge (‘BISEXUAL ANXIETY’) next to disconcerting noise-rock (‘FEMME’). Left-field and perpetually interesting, this is the future of feminist punk.