The Veronicas emerged out of a seven-year hiatus with not one but two albums for 2021. GODZILLA is the first of their 2021 albums, and it reintroduces the Australian sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso with a bang. Their opening titular song melds grunge rock and a hefty serving of in-your-face punk. It is a song about the overexposure of fame and unexpectedly crashing back onto the scene. Compared to their earlier work, “Godzilla” sounds more like the female-led rock-band Halestorm than the pop gloss the Veronicas have released in the past. When trying to silence critics and detractors, it is a great place to start.
Following the opening track, the Veronicas take a tour in the electronic. However, these up-tempo songs are a bit aimless. They add some vitality before the sentimental songs near the back half of the album, but these early album songs pass by just as quickly as they came. Their hit “In My Blood” will likely receive the remix treatment from a slew of DJs, but the pop songs of their albums are not enough to be put on repeat for their own merit.
As GODZILLA progresses, the rock layering peels away, and we see a softer side of the Veronicas. “High Score” sets the pace for the slower songs ahead. The song dabbles in eighties’ beats, but the nostalgia trip is actually about growing older and dealing with the consequences. They sing, “I wish we could go back to the days/ When you would meet me at the arcade/ When the only change we knew was a pocket full of quarters.” While the road to fame is full of quick turns and thrills, this new stage of their career focuses on the steady cruising of life’s second act.
The Veronicas blew up internationally with their hit “Untouched,” which is about the teenage angst of needing a lover, right here and right now. As the Veronicas have matured, their sentiments have grown with them. Near the end of the album, on the song “The Only High,” they sing, “Back when we were young and drunk/ Love could never last forever/ Then we sobered up.” The candy-coated fantasy has washed away from their music, and a more realistic love story takes its place.
GODZILLA feels like a transitionary album in that the Veronicas are preparing for the next stage of their career. Aesthetically, it is probably the best choice to respond to an audience waiting for their return. However, there are only a few songs that catch throughout the album. If the sentimental side is the future of the Veronicas, then maybe the hits are waiting on their next album, Human.
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