QWAM

Feed Me [EP] (2018)

Keegan

Despite describing their sound as ‘popsicle punk’ and decrying themselves as too cute to be punk, QWAM (Queen With A Megaphone) are anything but coy. The opening title track of their EP Feed Me announces them and lets you know immediately what they are: a raucous punk-n-roll party band, full of sing-along choruses and a sloppy lack of self-seriousness. ‘Feed Me’ opens with singer Felicia Lobo exhorting prospective lovers to ply her with food before launching into a call and response chorus of ‘Fuck you’s. Lobos voice is hard to nail down, zig-zagging between a psychedelic Grace Slick squall and a late-scene Riot Grrrl snarl. Later in the song, friends of the band intone various foods in an orgy of built-up tension and “straight up cheese.”

This is a rock record, sexy, profane, and dangerous, and it sounds like it would be best served live. These choruses are begging to be shouted back at the stage and songs like ‘Glitter Paint’ are pure circle pit fodder sure to get a crowd moving. QWAM has some versatility, too. ‘Crazier Than Me’ sees them take a down tempo turn with Lobo crooning about how she’s “found a boy to match [her] crazy” before slamming into a vintage 90’s alt-rock chorus. Guitarist Matt Keim and bassist Eddie Kuspiel match her every step of the way, wending their way deftly through and between genres while Rachel Zisette’s drums supply the drive that keeps every song briskly moving forward.

The closing track ‘Dirty Feet’ is both a departure from the rest of the record and the strongest song on it. It starts with menacing, post-punk syncopations before breaking into a triumphantly ringing guitar riff that stays with you long after the song is over. Feed Me is still an early record. It feels as though QWAM are still negotiating what exactly their sound is going to be and the lyrics have a tendency to trail off without a lot of snap to end a verse, but there’s a lot of promise and ambition present. The band feels poised to make a big step forward and Feed Me is a testament to how far they could go.