Ashnikko has never shied away from overt sexuality: take the cult anthem ‘Slumber Party’’s sugar-coated ode to cunnilingus, for one. If 2023’s ‘WEEDKILLER’ then took a tiny step back, this second full album ramps into overdrive. “Give me the full frontal,” she demands part way through ‘Smoochies’. “Sit on the DJ’s face and feel the beat through my puss.” Subtle, this is not, which shouldn’t come as a surprise for an album launched with an (in her words) “itty bitty, teeny, tiny little slutty skirt.” Its rapid smut is abundant and relentless, an all-out tits-to-the-wall celebration of feminine sexuality, but as the thumping hyperpop of ‘I Want My Boyfriends To Kiss’ affirms, it’s equally directed to all underdogs.
It’s a high energy, hedonistic protest in the face of raging conservatism, a firm middle-finger to so-called traditional values; the type of record provocatively calling for a prudish boycott, and all the better for it. “Can you see my ass when I bend over,” a distorted Ashnikko asks on ‘Itty Bitty’, before a resounding and powerful “good” launches the driving bass. It shows ‘Smoochies’ as exactly what it is, a gleeful disregard for reserved or safe. Bounding through dirty pop at breakneck speed via occasional nods to country with Arabian twists, ‘Smoochies’ is a bold self-affirmation of self-love in more ways than one. This is gagged in all the right ways.
