Pillow Queens - In Waiting album review

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"This unforgivingly catchy and wickedly poignant debut is sure to make Pillow Queens an alt scene staple"

Pillow Queens - In Waiting
(Image credit: Supplied)

PILLOW QUEENS
In Waiting
AWAL

With razor-sharp riffs, belting hooks and vocal runs drenched in emotional fury, this unforgivingly catchy and wickedly poignant debut is sure to make Pillow Queens an alt scene staple. 

The Irish quartet juggle atmospheric indie numbers and incandescent rock anthems with virtuosic aplomb, dipping and diving around varying notches of intensity so that the bigger jams feel earned and exciting, but the slower cuts never even border on boring. 

So too does this showcase the dizzying deftness of string‑splitter Cathy McGuinness – whether she’s ripping a thick, thunderous onslaught of volcanic distortion or a tight, temperamental emo strum, her work with the fretboard is always effortlessly enchanting. 

This is definitely one to crank up high.

Ellie Robinson
Ellie Robinson
Editor-at-Large, Australian Guitar Magazine

Ellie Robinson is an Australian writer, editor and dog enthusiast with a keen ear for pop-rock and a keen tongue for actual Pop Rocks. Her bylines include music rag staples like NME, BLUNT, Mixdown and, of course, Australian Guitar (where she also serves as Editor-at-Large), but also less expected fare like TV Soap and Snowboarding Australia. Her go-to guitar is a Fender Player Tele, which, controversially, she only picked up after she'd joined the team at Australian Guitar. Before then, Ellie was a keyboardist – thankfully, the AG crew helped her see the light…