In the early 90s, a fresh wave of punk rock exploded onto the mainstream music scene from the Pacific Northwest. While the genre was previously male-dominated and heavily produced, the riot grrrl movement sought to carve out a space for women’s self-expression, largely driven by female-fronted DIY bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile. Echoing some of their homeland sonic influences, Eat Sleep Freak is a scathing pop-punk offering from Oregon-based Bliss Foxx. None of its seven songs surpasses the three-minute mark, resulting in a bold debut record that is short, snappy, and unapologetically attention-grabbing.
Opening the album, “Hoops” embodies the angsty-but-catchy essence of pop-punk music with breezy lyrics describing “cherry lips, banana splits” offset by gritty guitars and unrelenting percussion from drummer Dakota Seven. It’s unmistakably energetic, bursting with maximalist production, and fundamentally fun. From the get-go, Bliss Foxx asserts themselves as a band hellbent on emotional release, whether that’s the vivacity of “Hoops” or the agitation of tracks like “Deduce.” “You’re being spooky / kinda sneaky / wanna accuse me / for what you’re feeling / it was nothing,” frontwoman Kesha Rose complains in a feverish high-pitched tone as the song begins. Frenetic guitar melodies and a pounding drum beat build to a cathartic climax as Rose’s charged refrain, “you’re getting freaky,” dispels her pent-up frustration with blistering directness.
But Bliss Foxx aren’t afraid to play around with pace and energy. “Trigger” is a more contemplative track—softer vocals are offset by slower, mellow guitar twangs courtesy of Brent Long and Conner O’Shea, leaning more into hazy indie rock territory. This gives Rose’s voice more breathing room as she openly reflects on a relationship breakdown: “I’m not gonna sit around and wonder if you meant it / I’m not gonna hang around and one day you’ll regret it.” Even in the band’s more vulnerable moments, there is an undeniable self-assuredness to their lyricism, driving the rest of Eat Sleep Freak forward with striking tenacity, evoking the emotional rawness and grit of the riot grrrl scene.
Take “Marina,” for example. It’s packed with razor-sharp guitar riffs and visceral lyrics—“I am the object / take out your scalpel / bring on the wine / the gun is loaded”—half-sung and half-spoken by Rose in a fiercely commanding way. Her dynamic vocal range is cemented on “Queenie,” a grungy track alluding to mythical sirens with lines like “and now she goes / into the sea… her darkest wave / underneath / she’ll bring you down” punctuated by a mix of snarling spoken word and soprano flourishes. James King’s pulsing bassline adds further depth to the track, providing a persistent undercurrent that pulls us in deeper.
Closing the record, “Waterfall” starts a little more leisurely and stripped-back, at least by Bliss Foxx’s standards. It’s more lighthearted than “Trigger,” though—with sparse guitars and jaunty drums creating a laidback groove, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were bringing you back down to earth and ending things on a relaxed note. But this doesn’t last long, and we’re soon thrust into one final frenzy that ebbs and flows throughout the song. From explosive choruses to Rose’s imploring refrain of “baby be kind,” Bliss Foxx keeps us hooked until the very end. In the final few seconds, the instrumentals die back down as though all the raw emotion simmering beneath the surface has finally boiled over.
Eat Sleep Freak can best be summed up by lyrics from its potent lead single “Stretch”: “pull it apart / put it back together / pull it apart… we’ve got to breathe / got to let it breathe.” Across the album, Bliss Foxx are tearing into old wounds and patching them up with high-energy soundscapes, candid lyricism, and all-around infectious pop-punk feistiness.
