Rookie of the Year Lambrini Girls Gave Us a Lesson in Cuntology

Consequence's 2025 Annual Report continues with our Rookie of the Year, Lambrini Girls. If you haven't already, check out our Best Albums and Best Songs lists, and stay tuned for more list and interviews.

You can watch our full interview with Lambrini Girls here or via YouTube.

When you listen to Lambrini Girls' debut album, Who Let the Dogs Out, one thing becomes immediately apparent: they are pissed off. It's not hard to understand why; the world is ablaze, and no one seems to possess the skills to extinguish it. The Brighton, UK band couldn't fix the globe themselves, so they used their unrestrained and infectious album to spell out exactly why they've become fed up with the subpar living conditions of the status quo.

Arriving back in January, Who Let the Dogs Out is a specific and emphatic "fuck you" to oppressors, tyrants, and bullies, and a nurturing "you are loved" to marginalized, downtrodden people. When they join me on a video call from England and Portugal respectively, Phoebe Lunny and Selin Macieira-Boşgelmez — otherwise known as Lambrini Girls, our 2025 Rookie of the Year — tell me they are led first and foremost by their fiercely protective nature, which frequently borders on incendiary.

"I would like to piss people off," Lunny, the lead vocalist, says. "Make 'em question themselves around certain issues that they may be being apathetic about. I want people to mobilize. And for people who are affected by the issues that we sing about in our songs, I'd like to make people feel validated and less alone."

Lunny admits she doesn't have anyone in mind when she writes lyrics, but her messaging finds its audience regardless. "If you are singing about universal social issues, which people are either really fucking angry about, or you're singing about issues which are relatable to other people, then I feel like there's a connection within that and I think it's a great way to harbor community," Lunny says.

Who Let the Dogs Out is equal parts boisterous and meaningful, with Lunny attacking societal ills like transphobia and sexism over a rollicking flurry of her own nimble guitar, Macieira-Boşgelmez's driving bass, and chaotic drums provided by a rotation of session drummers.

Lambrini Girls have "painstakingly and organically" built their way to being a Live Band to Watch, playing nearly 200 shows a year. In fact, the band reveals Who Let the Dogs Out came together during two short breaks they were barely able to build into their schedule. "We didn't really have a choice but to just do it," Macieira-Boşgelmez, who joined Lunny in 2022, says. "And that meant that we couldn't set ourselves any sort of limitations. If we had an idea, we just had to follow that trail, and let go of any control to try and steer it in a certain direction. It's kind of like jumping on the back of a train."

Transferring the energy of their concerts to wax was a challenge that the group was committed to overcoming. "I feel like a lot of the time, people are like, 'Oh, the album's so overproduced. We've gotta make sure this holds up live,'" Lunny says. "I think it's the opposite for us. What we do live has to hold up on record. I think an inherent part of the band is the energy. If it doesn't translate onto record, then I don't think we're doing our jobs right."

Lunny found her purpose as the lead vocalist when she realized she had the ability to share transformative messages onstage. She recalls playing a show in Brighton that had a capacity of around 150 people. "I'm screaming and throwing myself around, there were mosh pits," she says. "Everyone's having a great time."

She specifically remembers a moment when all eyes and ears were on her, and deciding in that second that she was ready to make an impact. "I was just talking about something, like some bullshit," Lunny says. "And then I remember thinking, 'What if I do that and speak about something important?' Because everyone's looking at me, everyone's paying attention to what I'm saying."

Lambrini Girls have an urgent series of messages to deliver, and Who Let the Dogs Out is their vehicle. The album opens with the propulsive "Bad Apple," a scathing takedown of corrupt and trigger-happy police officers, and transitions into "Company Culture," which tackles the challenges queer people and women face in the workplace.

"I've had jobs where I've been harassed on the first day," Lunny says. "I've had men be attributed for my work. I've had no one take me seriously because I'm a woman. I've actively been given more workload than my male counterparts. I've had to stay later. I've been shown a picture of someone's dick before at work. I've been harassed, and I've been not taken seriously. And I think that's a fucking universal experience for most women and queer people in the workplace."

Railing against the connective cancers of patriarchy, capitalism, and colonialism is the thematic through-line of Who Let the Dogs Out. In addition to shitty work environments, Lambrini Girls approach the subject through the lens of turbulent relationships and hyper-masculinity that verges on incel behavior. "Big Dick Energy," originally written during lockdown, is a direct subversion of the viral trend; instead of praising men for their aura, Lunny describes every reason why the concept is a farce.

Fun is still very much on the menu, as heard on the instant mood-booster, "Cuntology 101," Lambrini Girls' most-streamed song on Spotify and Apple Music. The lyrics are as unserious as they are inspiring — "Learning how to let go is cunty" — which Lunny says was the point. "The world's on fire," she shares. "There's so much doom and gloom. It was nice to write something where it was just celebratory and happy and upbeat, which was the goal."

Per Lunny, the song came together quickly and effortlessly. "We just didn't really give a fuck," she says. "I wrote the lyrics really quickly and was like, cool. Bam. Done. Then we wrote it in the studio on my birthday and we just kind of blasted the whole thing out really fucking quickly."

While there is space for levity, the duo is dedicated to taking on taboo issues like eating disorders and diet culture ("Nothing Tastes As Good As It Feels"), as well as the pressing worldwide issue of gentrification ("You're Not From Around Here").

Lambrini Girls also broach the prickly topic of mental health, with the brooding, yet uplifting album highlight "Special Different." "Don't tell me to calm down," Lunny screams during the chorus, "I was born to stand out." Both Lunny and Macieira-Boşgelmez identify as neurodivergent: Lunny was diagnosed with ADHD, and Macieira-Boşgelmez lives with autism and bipolar disorder.

"For me, it was a hindrance for a long time because being autistic, the world feels like a game where everyone knows the rules and I don't," Macieira-Boşgelmez says. "So a lot of my life has been observing and copying and trying to systemically and strategically figure things out, which can be very creatively stunting."

Macieira-Boşgelmez says her experience with bipolar disorder makes her "very emotionally intense, and that's where I draw a lot of my creativity from."

Lunny's experience with neurodivergence is also complex. "A lot of the time, it just feels like being a square, trying to shove yourself into a circle hole and it just doesn't fit," Lunny says. "It feels like a constant battle between celebrating your individuality and also feeling ashamed by it."

Both members of Lambrini Girls are vocal and transparent about the challenges they face as touring musicians who live with mental health conditions. "God, it kills me," Macieira-Boşgelmez admits. "It absolutely kills me. It's definitely the hardest possible thing to do, and at the same time, also the most rewarding thing."

Lunny agrees with her bandmate. "I wouldn't wanna do anything else because I find it so fulfilling and I feel so grateful to do that," she says. "But also, I don't know how many other lanes there were that I could have gone down and functioned at the same time. So I think it's passion, but at the same time, it does feel kind of like survival. I've been lucky enough to do something where I can exist."

As we wrap up our call, I ask the Lambrini Girls if they have any parting words. The duo circles back to buck figures of authority, yet again. "ACAB, Free Palestine, Trans Lives Matter," Lunny says. "And an end to colonial empires," Macieira-Boşgelmez signs off.

Lambrini Girls' refusal to be boxed in is exactly what gives Who Let the Dogs Out its bite. They’re loud because the world demands it, funny because sometimes survival requires it, and unfiltered because there’s no other way for them to tell the truth. In pushing every boundary they can find, Lambrini Girls are charting a path that feels less like rebellion and more like revolution.

Correction: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized crowd size with the unintentional inclusion of an extra zero. It was 150 people, not 1,500.