Pack Your Tears Into A Suitcase and Scream Like There's No Tomorrow: Her Words Kill:

Like many others, my introduction to Her Words Kill came recently through their song “Sir, This Is A Cutthroat Fashion” the track behind the viral TikTok “milkaholic” trend. As most of you probably know, the clip used on TikTok is only a tiny portion of the actual song, and honestly, it does zero justice to what the band really sounds like. Catchy lyrics, guttural screams, fast guitar riffs, and a vocal dynamic that makes every song feel intricate; that’s what I think of now when people bring up HWK. They’re so much more than a TikTok song, and that’s exactly what I’m talking about this week. Let’s take a look at the one and only HWK album: Load My Revolver, Baby.

The album opens with “Girls, Guns & Dynamite,” and if you discovered the band from TikTok, this will be your first big WTF moment lmao. The record starts off strong: crazy guitar, blasting drums, and Lee screaming his head off.

"Can you load my revolver, baby?" — that opening line hits and immediately pulls you in. We get breakdowns, wild leads, powerful screams, and gut-wrenching lyrics all in the first track. If you’re into anything remotely heavy; post-hardcore, metal, whatever it is, this song will blow you away. These were teenagers making songs for fun, and yet 20+ years later it’s blossomed into something much bigger. That alone should tell you how awesome this record is.

The opener blends perfectly into the next track, “...Priscilla Brook...” is our first real look at the Luke/Lee vocal dynamic. Luke sings like Heaven and Lee screams like Hell. It’s incredible, especially considering how young they were and how much of this was just them having fun. These songs were way ahead of their time, and the vibe HWK captured is honestly astonishing. The guitar tones? Sick. The bass? Hits hard. The drums? Tiiiiight.

And the riff at 2:18? It sounds like some fucking Power Rangers fight music and it gets me absolutely jacked. Idk why my brain makes that comparison lol, but seriously, go listen to it. This track is a major highlight; everyone is at their strongest and nobody slacks for even a second of the 7:30 runtime. When I hear the band on TikTok now, this is the song I think of… like, “If you only knew what they were actually capable of.” Seven minutes feels like two when you’re that immersed.

Next we get “We’re Taking Over This Joint,” another really strong track for both Luke and Lee. It starts off chill and just gets more unhinged by the second. This is my favorite Lee track. I mean, the vocals are spot on, and the melodies he picked are stupidly catchy. My favorite melody (and honestly favorite Lee vocal moment on the whole record) is at 2:05. I headbang so hard there it makes my neck hurt.

“Make Me Beautiful” follows, and it’s super chill. Acoustic guitar, explosive-sounding drums, and Luke’s clean vocals. This track really shows how much control Luke has over his voice and his range is nuts. It’s a nice breather before the final half of the album.

And now, the one you’ve all been waiting for: “Sir, This Is A Cutthroat Fashion.”

Obviously, it’s a great song. One of the best on the album. And the fact that it was written by teenagers is honestly ridiculous (and yes, it makes me jealous haha). This is the viral hit with almost 10M streams on Spotify sure, but there’s so much more going on here. The bass is what I love most: funky, sharp, cuts through everything. The guitars work together beautifully, the vocals are once again stellar from both ends, and the drums hold it all down while keeping it interesting.

The only thing I have against this track is that I hate seeing a great album overshadowed by a great single. Please listen to the whole record and not just the TikTok clip. I promise it’s worth it.

“...Show Stopper...” and “Love On The Catwalk” close out the album, and just like the beginning, both tracks show off the Luke/Lee dynamic so well. The instrumentation on the closing track is exceptional. I love how they can switch from soft to fast to heavy and they just do everything well. The final song is mostly mellow, with Luke steering the ending, but we still get one last send-off from Lee. It’s the most intense, spit-flying, in-your-face scream on the entire record, even if it’s just for a moment. Every time it hits, I smile and go, “fuck yeah.” It feels like the warning siren that the end is near. It’s so dope.

Load My Revolver, Baby is a classic. I love that I discovered it and I normally hate TikTok haha. It’s definitely a special record to me now. It’s well seasoned, it’s nostalgic, and it weirdly feels like something I’ve been missing for years even though I just found it. Imagine how much lost time I’ve been making up.

Huge shoutout to Lee — I was struggling to find any deeper info on the band and he came through with everything I needed. He’s a great guy, super down to earth, and still loves the music as much as he did back then. We’ve had a ton of great conversations. We talked about the band’s upbringing, growing up around London, old demos, VHS tapes his dad dug up (they’re in the mail on the way to him!), influences like Alexisonfire, City & Colour, Bon Iver, and folk music. There’s so much more to this band than one song. I will keep stressing this: LISTEN TO THE WHOLE ALBUM.

I love the attention Cutthroat Fashion is getting, but don’t let it blind you from a genuinely great record. Go listen right now!And check out my second interview with Lee down below to get an even better look inside one of the minds behind these incredible songs.

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A Conversation With: Lee Beaumont

Photo courtesy of: Lee Beaumont

EH: Do you have a favorite song off the album? Any particular reason why?

LB: My favorite song has to be Priscilla Brooke - it just has everything. Its got melodies, its got guitar solos, its energetic and honestly it was fun as hell to play live!

EH: What are some of your favorite lyrics that you wrote with Her Words Kill?

LB: Sometimes the things that you don’t know, are the things that hurt you the most. It has to be that line from art is red from the first ep. Whenever I think about it, it just sounds so true - often it can put you into a dark spiral ya know? When you think - what don’t I fucking know? It kinda plugs away at your brain.

EH: With Cutthroat Fashion blowing up and getting some traction; Do you care to reflect on the song and maybe give some insight on the creative process and the story behind the

lyrics?

LB: So this song is actually kinda dark - it's about the selfishness of suicide but also the pressures of staying around when you feel you have nothing left. Its kinda meant to be a devil and angel type of situiation - where lyrically I’m playing both, sat on someones shoulders. I hope that makes some sense?

EH: What was it like growing up near London? How did your upbringing help shape your music in your youth?

LB: London is one of the greatest places on earth, I was situated like 20 minutes outside of it. I spent as much time as I could outside, I hated school, all I did all day was sneak headphones down my blazer sleeve and listen to music. If it wasn’t for my dads taste in music (when I was super young my parents would always take us to Camden market on Sundays and I would sit in the back of the car and read all the lyrics from inside the cassette tape sleeves).

EH: You mentioned that your parents liked the music you made; What was it like growing up with them? Did they put you onto any cool music?

LB: Haha I guess I answered this question above by accident, I’ve seen so many bands with my parents. More with my dad, we’ve seen deftones, tool, bush to name a few. He had killswitch engage as his ringtone for years!! My parents loved coming to watch, I always made them stand at the back - but looking back I shoulda been prouder to have them there. They’re the best!

EH: How does it make you feel to know your music is being appreciated in the way that it is, and people across the globe are listening now?

LB: It stills blows my mind that it has reached this many people - even 20 plus years after we wrote it. People have told me through the years “ if you had stayed together - you’d be HUGE now” - that doesn’t really matter to me - the fact that people still listen to the record after all this time is very humbling. i just wish we could give the new generation the shows they are asking for.

EH: Are there any moments that stick out from your time with the band? Any stories that have stuck with you?

LB: We had so many in jokes, josh is one of the funniest people you’ll ever meet and his parents (Lukes as well) were also so welcoming - us 3 would sit in front of the computer for hours just listening to music on Friday nights and id sleep over. Never got much sleep cos one of those two were always making me die laughing. We never really had many bad times together. Those two are legends.

EH: What do you think the next step is? Is this something you’re going to try and pursue now that it’s a possibility?

LB: The next step is to finally get this fucking band back together!!!!

EH: What’s your favorite meal you’ve made since becoming a chef?

LB: I took the job (as a chef) as a bet 9 years ago and I’m still here doing it, I absolutely love being out on the grill and making bbq food!

EH: If you only had one album you could listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be?

LB: Damn, you’re gonna do me dirty like that? I’m going to say Beloved - failure on - not one band song on the entire album and like her words kill, they have one ep and one album and it still gets talked about 20 years on!! They’re really nice guys and live they are absolutely unreal!

Thanks for talking to me Ethan, it's been a pleasure!

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Once again, thanks a million to Lee for chatting with me

I hope everyone enjoys and MANIFEST THOSE VHS TAPES

Thanks :) See ya next week - Ethan