Hunter Valentine: Collide & Conquer

Canadian trio breathe fresh life into pop-rock.

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Teenage girls of the world rejoice! Here we have an all-female pop-rock band to provide an antidote to the porny hyper-sexuality of Rihanna and the bleating victim complex of Taylor Swift.

This is smart, spirited, catchy, spiky pop with a refreshing seam of raw honesty. And as stars of US TV’s The Real L Word, they give voice to the young LGBT community – much needed in a world where so many turned a blind eye to the faux-lesbian homophobic bullshit of Katy Perry’s appalling I Kissed A Girl.

Frontwoman Kiyomi McCloskey shares that mouthful-of-marbles vocal style with Gwen Stefani, but musically they’re a world away, glimpses of Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday shining through their melodies to make Collide & Conquer an effervescent ride. Members of the grunge generation having little riot grrrls of their own should embrace them.

Emma Johnston

Emma has been writing about music for 25 years, and is a regular contributor to Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog and Louder. During that time her words have also appeared in publications including Kerrang!, Melody Maker, Select, The Blues Magazine and many more. She is also a professional pedant and grammar nerd and has worked as a copy editor on everything from film titles through to high-end property magazines. In her spare time, when not at gigs, you’ll find her at her local stables hanging out with a bunch of extremely characterful horses.