The Regrettes - How Do You Love?
The Regrettes second album How Do You Love? came out back in the summer of 2019, but recently I’ve found myself going back to it a lot and thought I’d share my thoughts on the album with you on this Valentine’s edition of ‘throwback reviews’.
First a bit of background on The Regrettes, for those of you who aren’t familiar with them or their music. The band’s line-up currently consists of Lydia Night, Genessa Gariano, Brooke Dickson and Drew Thompsen, and this is the first album with that line-up of the band. They are a punk rock band from California with elements of surf music, garage pop and riot grrrl in their music. I first heard of them and their music a few years ago now as I started getting into more of the American punk music scene, and more so when they opened for twenty one pilots on their Bandito tour.
I have recently been on a The Regrettes binge and have been really enjoying listening to this album over the last few weeks. So when I was thinking of what I could write for today’s post, instead of me putting together of playlist of love or anti-love songs for you, I thought I’d write about the album I have been listening to that depicts love as it actually is.
The thing that hooks you on to this album are the infectious guitar hooks and fun and playful melodies, but the thing that gets you to stay are the lyrics and emotion behind the songs. A great example of this is the stand out single ‘I Dare You’. Musically the songs is actually pretty simple, but it’s so fun and makes you want to dance around in your bedrooms. However lyrically the songs is about being in a relationship with someone and not knowing whether it’s actually a good thing or not, you love this person but you’re not sure if they’re going to be the one, as such.
This album follows an arc of a relationship, from its start to its downfall and eventual ending. It has elements of being carefree and a teenage romance but has undertones of it being more serious than that. One of my favourite songs on the album, and probably one of the most raw songs we have is ‘Colouring Book’. I love how personal front-woman Lydia Night gets here and how the song builds up until she’s almost shouting at the end.
I really love how all the guitars work on this album, some parts are really simple but you don’t even notice because they work so well. I love both Genessa and Lydia’s playing style throughout the album and they both work well together as well. Brooke Dickson’s bass lines here are also incredible, they’re funky and fun and really help lift the low end and add depth to the album.
I think for most of the writing process it was just Night and Gariano in the band as they were in the middle of changing the line up after members from the first incarnation of the band had left, and I feel that is shown in the writing on the album, however I hope this means that future releases might have even more depth to them.
There are so many on this album that will get stuck in your head, the choruses of many of the songs being some, however Pumpkin is one that won’t leave you for days. It’s a song that I didn’t get the hype for at first but has grown on me greatly and it’s nice to see some genuine love on the album, this song being one of the songs not related to the main arc. Lydia Night’s vocals on the album are stunning, I love the mix between a 1960’s drawl and riot grrrl shouts, and it’s something that I haven’t seen done much in recent times so it really stands out to me, and I need more.
I find the first half of the album impeccable, from the intro right through to Stop And Go, but after that for a bit I wasn’t so sure. Listening to the album again recently though has made me appreciate those songs a bit more now and even though I still love the first half of the album immensely, I think songs like Dead Wrong and the title track How Do You Love? add more of the serious undertones of the album with more of the punk sound you associate with The Regrettes.
If you haven’t listened to The Regrettes before, or have heard their single Seashore and not much else then you should definitely give this album a listen. It’s full of catchy hooks and choruses while lyrically discussing relationships in a real way. I would say if you are a fan of Beach Bunny, Destroy Boys, Deap Vally, or any pop-punk or alternative rock music then you should give The Regrettes a listen. I think you might like them.
Favourite Songs: California Friends, I Dare You, Colouring Book, Fog, Pumpkin, Stop And Go, Dead Wrong, How Do You Love?
Thank you for reading my throwback review of The Regrettes ‘How Do You Love?’, again, I’m trying out a different way of writing reviews at the moment, so let me know what you think or which style you prefer to read.
Until next time…
Listen to How Do You Love? on Spotify here.
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