Stella Donnelly's debut album is about all the awful men in her life. She lists off her mistreatment with playful dark humor and plenty of memorable one-liners.
When listening to Stella Donnelly's debut album, Beware of the Dogs, you get a sense that there are a lot of awful people in her life, especially the men. Men are obvious jerks and Donnelly has a lot to say about them. "You grabbed me with an open hand," "your personality traits don't count if you put your dick in someone's face," "boy if you touch her again, I'll tell your wife and your kids about that time." All of these lines are simply in the first song alone. The slick "Old Man" is not the only song where she accounts these instances of asshole men mistreating her, it's the general theme of the album. She doesn't just sing in a very serious tone, like the lines mentioned earlier. She often sings in a humorous and playful tone instead, sharing many dark instances in a tone that's very laughable. Many of the quotes on this record are straight up funny and unexpected. The way she sings "get laid" on the standout "Tricks "is outright hilarious. One of the funniest lines is on "Mosquito," when she literally sings, "I wanna bring you cake back home from work, but you're allergic." It's a very sincere, yet joking gesture that I cannot get enough of.
"Old Man," "Tricks," and "Mosquito" aren't the only highlights on the record. "U Owe Me" is a very pretty ballad that is a goodbye to a very annoying man who was once in her life who happens to be her old boss at a pub. "Bistro" is a short and sweet synth ballad with many simple lines to it, while "Lunch" is a guitar ballad full of strings about not being able to explain her story due to only having time for lunch. "Die" is the harmony enriched tune about not wanting to die. "Watching Telly" is another pretty synth ballad with another couple of really great lines, including "God loves his children, but God loves men, Jesus Christ" and "threw up on my birthday."
Beware of the Dogs doesn't come up with anything crazy new instrumentally, due to coming out of the female singer songwriter / indie rock scene that's exploding right now. But Stella Donnelly's lyrics and personality make up for it, coming up with plenty of memorable lyrics and songs to keep returning to. It's funny, heartfelt, dark, playful. What more do you want?
Rating: 7 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Tricks," "Old Man," "Mosquito," "Lunch"
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