REVIEW: Shooting Daggers - The Real Life Thing
- Amber Brooks
- May 27
- 3 min read
When SHOOTING DAGGERS headlined charity fundraiser, Punks For Palestine, less than a month ago, it was clear that shouting about the issues that matter to them was their oxygen. The release of their new seven-song, twenty-minute ‘mini-album’ The Real Life Thing is no exception to this rule. The abrasive London trio live and breathe supporting their community, uplifting queer voices and taking the fight to the underground. In their most genre-diverse and experimental release yet, this isn’t a record, but a statement - not just within the talented hardcore community around them, but words of wisdom to take into the wider world too.
Their 2024 debut Love & Rage was a wakeup call, a loud, feisty record that centred itself on an Americanised sound, similar to SCOWL, JIVEBOMB and SPACED. It had seemed the band's sound had settled, at times melting into shoegazey tones that gave those moments of frantic frustration meaning. The Real Life Thing, however, sharpens its established edges for the love of the game to sink its blade into a septet of songs that each ooze with emotion, but in the context of an album, there’s real distance between them.
It feels like this is a moment of re-invention, and there is a lot to love here. Adrenaline is true to form with a fast and anthemic hardcore sonata, dancing through pop-punk gang chants and high-intensity roller shred. Particularly potent in a hardcore setting, it pushes the same kind of optimism as an early TURNSTILE record.
As it moves into the looser scathing single My Oh My, there’s a real U-turn of emotional direction. Conscious, debilitating, with a real understanding of the world around them, we’ve peeled the skin off the skull of the record to reveal the real anxiety inside. Amongst the post-hardcore slowness of the lingering guitars, at the end of this track, there’s a real message of hope that things are “going to get better”, as the track slowly fades out. T.R.L.T. is SHOOTING DAGGERS at their best, complete with dog growls and real moments of suspense that spin this record even faster. It bottles a very pure hardcore sound with a real groove-laden edge.
Prefaced by the 28-second playground chant-style introduction We Just Wanna Play, the album dismantles the patriarchy with Loud Mouths, featuring fellow loudmouths THE MENSTRUAL CRAMPS. Taking down systematic oppression and TFL in one go, it works fantastically as a collaboration. Le Soleil is this track’s antidote, arriving just in time for summer. Its indie leanings are warm and glowy, a real moment of solar-powered self-reflection. The record finishes on Glow, a REFUSED-inspired single, featuring the band’s frontman Dennis Lyxzen. After joining the band on tour in the UK for their final shows, it felt only right to pass on the torch to the next generation. In parts, this feels more like a REFUSED track than a SHOOTING DAGGERS one. Doesn’t mean this isn’t fantastic, we would have just liked more of SHOOTING DAGGERS to shine from this big swing statement piece.
Do not get us wrong - Out Of Rage will support this talented trio till the end. They stand for what we stand for, they change the game with their presence and push for a better future. The next generation is well and truly here, and it comes with a almighty one-two punch.
The cohesion of the tracks together makes for an album brimming with emotional ooze, but gains numbness in feeling in how different the tracks were in tone. The record feels transitional, moving into a space that feels more conscious and brimming with identity. One where Queercore is not just a genre, but a feeling of solidarity. Solidarity not just for queer people, but for those who want a future that thrives on the principles of individuality, acceptance and a need to belong. And SHOOTING DAGGERS are quite right when they say, “We rule it. We own it. We prove it.”
Score: 7/10
The Real Life Thing will be released on 5th June 2026 via New Heavy Sounds.
Words: Amber Brooks
Photos: Shooting Daggers
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