Album review: CLT DRP – Nothing Clever, Just Feelings

The title of CLT DRP’s (that’s ‘clit drip’) second album is either a partial lie or incredibly self-deprecating. It’s truthful in that there are buckets of feelings – pain, angst, feminist rage, with a streak of sass – on display across its 11 tracks, but really, it’s cleverer than it gives itself credit for. Indeed, if you’ve think you’ve heard everything punk is capable of, the Brighton trio have enough electro-infused ammunition to make you change your mind.

The band’s knack for synth wizardry is arguably their greatest strength – it’s not only the most individual, innovative quality of their music, but a weapon with multiple purposes. The throbbing, siren-like electronics in the title-track transform it into a deliciously dark dancefloor anthem, while the noisy NEW BOY feels as disorientating as being in a room full of harsh, flashing strobe lights. Meanwhile, the haunting I See My Body Through You – a brutal vignette of the experience of being viewed through the male gaze – beautifully intertwines the two opposite poles of their sound with soft, glimmering verses and a punky chorus that bares its teeth as much as its soul.

The other remarkable thing about Nothing Clever, Just Feelings is the strength of its personality. In both their charismatic style of writing and their loud, almost theatrical delivery of their lines, Annie Dorrett sparkles with the potential to become one of UK punk’s new ringleaders. Their raw tales of angst are captivating as they are, but they’re also spectacularly entertaining when they let their natural wit come to the fore, such as on the glitchy, sensual M.U.T.M and the equally self-pitying and self-aggrandising Daily Affirmations (try repeating 'I’m better than this / I’m better than you / I’m better than everybody,' in front of the mirror).

Audacious music deserves an audacious voice, and it gets just that, making for one of the freshest albums to spring from the UK underground this year.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Tokky Horror, Lake Malice, Lynks

Nothing Clever, Just Feelings is released on September 8 via Venn

Read this: CLT DRP: “I don’t think people change their mind by being yelled at”