Bristol band IDestroy, who mix punk noise with riot grrrl attitude, have released the first taste of their forthcoming debut album.
The trio, who met as students back in 2015, have paid their dues as a hard-touring band, playing more than 300 gigs across the UK, Europe and Asia.
Now they reckon they’ve managed to capture on a full-length album the sizzling energy which they show on stage.
Their debut album, We Are Girls, will be released on CD Baby on February 12, 2021, and has been trailed by the release of punchy lead single Petting Zoo.
A blast of catchy punk rock which carries a serious message, it is accompanied by a suitably energetic video which sees the band performing in a forest in animal onesies.
It was written after singer, guitarist and lead songwriter Bec Jevons was groped twice in a matter of months, first on a hiking trip, then in a nightclub.
“The club was the final straw,” she says. “A mixture of emotions overcame me – shock, anger, violation. Most startling was the confusion and helplessness I felt. What do you do in that situation?
“Petting Zoo is for everyone who’s had enough, who is tired of being leered at, sexualised and touched without consent.”
IDestroy were formed at a party, when a drunken Bec played drummer Jenn Hills some of the songs she’d been writing since the age of 16. Bassist Nicola Wilton-Baker joined when the band’s original four-stringer left.
From the outset, their focus was on playing live, but last year, with a rare four weeks free from touring, Bec sat down to write a debut album and realised how much she had to say.
“We Are Girls was the first song I wrote, which is partly why it’s the album title,” says Bec. “It distils all the preconceptions and patronising attitudes we’ve endured as a female band. Being told to smile, being called cranky, people’s surprise when they discover how good we are.
“I see male bands getting more attention for no obvious reason. I’ve had people steal my ideas. We can be carrying our gear and still be mistaken for mates of the band. It’s amazing that this stuff still goes on, but it does and it makes me mad.
After two acclaimed EPs – 2016’s Vanity Loves Me and 2018’s Pure Joy Of Life – the band say themselves that We Are Girls marks a significant step up.
“We still love the EPs,” says Nic, “but they never quite captured the energy we have live. This time we nailed it. Instead of the songs being mixed at different studios by outside producers, as in the past, we finished the album in-house, so to speak, and got exactly the sound we had in our heads.”
In-house meant Bristol’s West Street Studios, co-owned by Jenn and her husband, who masters for Sony. “We gave my husband our song G.O.D. and a Dream Wife track for reference,” says Jenn. “It was a test to see what he came up with – and he passed!
“When the three of us met up to listen, it was so exciting. We knew straight away that this was the sound we’d been searching for. Thankfully, he agreed to do the whole album.”
“And it only cost us a bottle of gin,” adds Bec. “Result!”
The album will be released on February 12, 2021, via CD Baby. You can pre-order it from the band’s website HERE.
