A triumphant debut full-length from Cincinnati-based band Tina Fey, Victory Lap delivers a hard-rocking spiritedness amidst heavy, relatable themes — spanning from ruminations on relationships within “Strigo” to the reckonings with personal failures on “Dead in a Boat.” Born from a period of intense collective struggle, the record balances roaring distortion with moments of more contemplative intrigue.
“We All Can’t Die in Bed (First Part of the First One)” kicks off the album with a frenzied sense of invigoration, maneuvering from steady guitar pulses into a roaring combination of sweltering vocal screams, frantic rhythm section, and blaring distortion. Shifts between brisk drum-forward moments and heavy guitars continue a sense of riveting momentum, culminating in a spoken-word, dazed immersion — where descriptions of “in the rain, in the sun, day and night…” exude a sense of perpetuality, before gearing up into a raucously intense final minute. Right away, the project shows a striking capability to switch between moments of lusher introspection and vigorous hard-rock, seamlessly and artfully.
The album’s high-octane artistic energy doesn’t let up from there. The ensuing “Order of Operations (Newest One)” lasts only one minute, but makes a strong impression in its stop-start procession of vocal ardor and percussive fills. The album’s first single, “Strigo,” arrives next — moving with a murky, hazy pull initially as twangy guitars swell into a steady percussion, crafting an initial soundscape with shades of early Modest Mouse. Intense vocal emotion follows, emitting the power of solidarity and love between friends, and what’s required to maintain those relationship in the long term. The title references the Esperanto word for “owl,” apt as a bird circling overhead witnesses the events taking place, like an omniscient observer.
Another standout success, “Dead in a Boat” serves as the oldest surviving song from the band; they wrote it when originally a duo. Thick bass lines and dynamic vocals, shifting from screaming intensity to murkier movements, pair with propulsions of heavy guitars while thematically pinpointing a sense of never-ending personal failure. Its two-minute turn is especially enveloping, channeling a sort of post-punk sludginess as haunting guitar twangs and doses of distortion meld with click-clacking rhythmic appeal. Album finale “Pli Ol (The Rest of the First Two)” caps it all off with a satiating bustle, its pulsating, unsettling sound driven by whirring guitar tones and a climactic midpoint reveal, where jumpy bass traverses into an ardent rock send-off. Victory Lap is a captivating hard-rock success from Tina Fey, whose emotional and visceral sound has a knack for inducing replays.
