Editors' Picks Editors' Picks

Anyone who knows me is going to be shocked that my pick isn’t a My Chemical Romance album, but I’ve got to shout-out a relative newcomer on the scene here. Scene Queen has been absolutely killing it on TikTok with her juxtaposition of 2000s bubblegum pop and metalcore. Bimbocore is a reclamation of femininity in masculine spaces, a collective anthem of being unashamedly yourself, and - let’s be perfectly honest here - a lot of bops about girl-on-girl love. There’s a bunch of pinkthemed tracks on these EPs, but if you’re not sure where to start try ‘Pink Panther’ - a very sexy song that will get stuck in your head.

SceneQueen,Bimbocore& BimbocoreVol.2(2022)

I’m gonna be real, I’m not sure how to explain this album without sounding insane. The Mechanisms are a steampunk band where each member portrays a fictionalised version of themselves. They are a band of immortal space pirates who spend their time singing about their run-ins with historical events, based on well-known myths and fairytales. In The Bifrost Incident, the story of Ragnarok is retold through the lens of a genderfucked, Lovecraftian cold case file. Nearly every character is trans, or otherwise queer, and the vocals never cease to hit me hard. Whether you’re looking for a heart-wrenching ballad about a trans lesbian’s identity crisis, a humorous interlude with some fourth wall breaking, or a hard rock chant summoning Yog-Sothoth, this high-concept album has it all. A good out of context track to get the feel for the album has gotta be ‘Ragnarok II: The Calling’, but if you want to know the story behind the story, check out their earlier albums, especially Once Upon a Time (In Space).

The Mechanisms, The BifrostIncident(2017)

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