QUEENADREENA - The Butcher And The Butterfly

We can safely say that Katie Jane Garside is the only

survivor of the riot grrrl movement. Fifteen years after the phenomenon

exploded, right as Courney

Love goes from rehab clinics to plastic surgery clinics

and Kat Bjelland serves

drinks at wedding receptions to make ends meet, Katie Jane Garside (who

had left Daisy Chainsaw in 1991, right after releasing what remains

a masterpiece of an album, "Eleventeen", before condemning the band to

mediocrity) rounds up the rest of Queenadreena and releases a new,

devastating record.

"The Butcher and the Butterfly" is an album where every

single note oozes blood, sweat, violence, obsession, rage and seduction,

sensuality and fears, aggression and passion.

However

distorted the music gets, the sound remains crystal clear and every single instrument stays in its

place, never "blending" its sound with another's. The

production by Paul Corkett (already a respected collaborator of Cure, Nick Cave, Timo Maas and Placebo, just to name a few) could

only be excellent.

Katie Jane plays with her own

sensuality, her own femininity, and she taunts us dangerously right from the start, where

in "Suck" (a title that couldn't be more explicit) she coos like a little girl. Then she shoves us

in "Medicine Jar" (which, thanks to radio airplay, is already becoming a

small generational anthem) and takes a step back to look down at us in

"Ascendine Stars". She draws menacingly close again in "Join The Dots", a song that,

given the tracks before it and with Cure's "Subway Song" and Noir Désir's "Pyromane" in its DNA, puts us on

guard: all we can do is hold our breath until the next

bruise. A truly deranged courtship dance.

The biggest surprise of all,

in “Pull Me Under” Katie Jane surrenders completely, not only in the

lyrics (“I’ll play your game – I’ll take the blame – Just pull me under” goes the

chorus), but the music too is more “restrained” (without losing its

edge, mind you) and the voice is less abrasive.

“Racing Towards the

Sun” is a hysterical fit, and once all the toxins have been purged through the writhing,

Katie Jane goes back to swaying seductively before our eyes to the notes of “Wolverine”.

Acoustic and whispered, “Birdnest Hair”. Regal and overbearing the way only spoiled

princesses can be, “Princess Carwash” (another gem that will

lodge itself in your eardrums). “In Red” is a threat, a warning to keep

your distance. “F.M. Doll” should be banned from radio for inciting

paedophilia or incest (“Strip baby strip – Cause your daddy is watching –

Strip baby strip – Sure your mother knows nothing”), but since this song,

along with “Black Spring Rising” right after it, is absolutely gorgeous, instead of

condemning it to the stake, we hum it all evening long.

Of course all the mischief

of this child cannot go unpunished, and the guilt arrives with

the darkness and with “Childproof”.

Rounding off the work are “Cold Light Of The Day” and

“Butcher And The Butterfly”, perfect for closing out a party-turned-devastation

that comes off perfectly.

“The Butcher And The Butterfly” is a genuine and

proper distillation of the albums that preceded it (“Taxidermy” from 2000 and

“Drink Me” from 2002), an album that Queenadreena fans (and Daisy Chainsaw fans)

will devour, and a great entry point for those who didn't know them before.

At the same time, the live album “Live At The Ica” is also out, where

new tracks (most of them, with excellent versions of “Medicine Jar” and “F.M.

Doll”, here renamed “Fuck Me Doll”) are alternated with older ones

(including “Pretty Polly” and “Pretty Like Drugs”), and where we get yet another

confirmation, if any were still needed, that Katie Jane Garside has the makings

stained glass instead of vocal cords. And we like it.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

30/04/2026