King Princess Girl Violence
King Princess's Girl Violence arrives as a bruised, theatrically charged statement that pairs jagged alt-rock sonics with sapphic melodrama, and critics largely agree it succeeds on its own combustible terms. Across six professional reviews the record earned an 80.33/100 consensus score, with reviewers repeatedly pointing to the album's vocal grit, romantic suffering, and genre-warping blend of New Wave feedback and rock-forward pop as defining strengths. Key moments named by multiple critics include “Cry Cry Cry”, “Girls” and “RIP KP”, tracks that emerge as the best songs on Girl Violence for their snarling hooks and theatrical bite.
Reviewers praise Straus's willingness to dramatize contradiction - raw vs. polished, pain vs. pleasure, desire vs. anxiety - so that the record's melodramatic love and post-breakup self-discovery feel performative and urgent rather than coy. Publications from Pitchfork to DIY single out “Cry Cry Cry” for its earworm snarls, while Paste and The Line of Best Fit highlight “Girls” and “RIP KP” as cathartic high points; Dork and Rolling Stone add “Serena” and “Slow Down and Shut Up” to the shortlist of standout tracks that justify repeated listens. Critics consistently note moments of self-indulgence and cinematic excess - the title track receives mixed responses - but the consensus suggests those excesses often fuel the record's dramatic charge rather than undercut it.
Taken together, professional reviews frame Girl Violence as a confident, sometimes messy leap that deepens King Princess's exploration of identity, queer indignation and self-preservation. For listeners asking whether Girl Violence is worth exploring, the critical consensus and its frequently cited best tracks make a persuasive case that this is a compelling, if deliberately unstable, addition to her catalog.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Serena
2 mentions
"Standout ‘Serena’, meanwhile, is far more sober in its approach"— DIY Magazine
Origin Story
1 mention
"’Origin Story’ leans into Y2K nostalgia, a ballad that could sit neatly alongside Sugababes"— Dork
Girls
5 mentions
"on ‘Girls’ she confesses herself a martyr for women"— DIY Magazine
Standout ‘Serena’, meanwhile, is far more sober in its approach
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Girl Violence
Jaime
Origin
I Feel Pretty
Cry Cry Cry
Get Your Heart Broken
Girls
Covers
Say What You Will
RIP KP
Alone Again
Slow Down and Shut Up
Serena
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
The review casts Girl Violence as a sneaky, feminist exploration of chaos and desire, with the calm, luscious title-track opener setting suspense through foreboding synths. Girls is singled out as the clearest encapsulation of the album’s angsty–romantic push-pull, its rock/waltz dynamics and smooth–gritty vocal shifts mirroring indecision. RIP KP stands out as a lusty, dub-tinged self-eulogy, its cracked vocals and unsettling synths showing Straus’ refusal to seek approval. The bratty diss track Cry Cry Cry and the provocative hook of Get Your Heart Broken underline her disruptive, taboo-testing pop instincts. A past cut, Homegirl, is cited to show this subversive streak predates the album. Overall enthusiasm is high, with the strongest praise reserved for tracks that dramatize tension without tidy resolution.
Key Points
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Girls is the best because it most vividly stages the album’s tension—romance versus chaos—through shifting dynamics and vocal textures.
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The album’s core strengths are its sneaky, feminist lens and genre-eclectic subversion that refuses tidy resolutions.
Themes
Critic's Take
King Princess leans into wounded clarity on Girl Violence, with the best songs like “Girls” and “RIP KP” crystallizing her knack for messy, beautiful confession. The record’s highs - the anthemic swagger of “RIP KP” and the bruised vulnerability of “Girls” - show why listeners ask about the best tracks on Girl Violence. Strauss balances pop immediacy and jagged guitars so that the best songs land as both catharsis and statement. This is an album that owns its chaos and makes that ownership its greatest strength.
Key Points
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The best song, "Girls", is the emotional centerpiece because it ties the album’s themes together with raw confession and musical heft.
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The album’s core strengths are honest, sapphic storytelling and a flexible musical palette that mixes pop immediacy with jagged, rock-tinged edges.
Themes
Critic's Take
Pitchfork singles out Cry Cry Cry as the record’s standout earworm, powered by Straus’ snarling, gravelly delivery. The trio of producers hits a sweet spot on Slow Down and Shut Up, a rousing, airtight rocker. Get Your Heart Broken and Girls showcase her growling, devilish vocals at the border of eroticism and transgression. The lead single RIP KP lands with a macabre, Halloween-y outro, while Say What You Will floats as a woozy interlude with a notable Joe Talbot feature. The title track Girl Violence is the rare miss, dinged for an indulgently cinematic drop.
Key Points
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Cry Cry Cry is crowned the standout earworm, driven by Straus’ snarling, tape-scraping vocal.
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The album’s core strengths are its rock-forward grit, macabre flair, and a consistent vocal character that unites pleasure and pain.
Themes
Critic's Take
Rolling Stone spotlights “Slow Down and Shut Up” and “Cry Cry Cry” as the album’s peak moments, praising their Earth-swallowing hunger and anthemic punch. The opener “Girl Violence” sets the tone, shifting from a murmured thesis to introspective catharsis once the beat drops. “Jaime” charms by stretching a schoolyard sing-song into a vulnerable crush note. Together, these songs showcase Straus’ blend of feedback-soaked New Wave and confessional pop. The review frames the record as a confident new chapter driven by openness and self-preservation.
Key Points
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“Slow Down and Shut Up” stands out because it’s singled out as a triumphant, closing-credits-sized anthem and one of the album’s best moments.
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The album’s core strengths are New Wave-smeared textures, feedback and languor, and candid writing that balances desire with anxiety and self-preservation.
Themes
Critic's Take
King Princess opens Girl Violence with the ghostly title cut and then leans into the album’s bruised romance, making the best tracks feel like bruised anthems. The reviewist’s favourite moments - “Jamie”, “Girls” and especially “Serena” - balance boozy alt-rock and sincere pop-rock, which is why listeners asking "best tracks on Girl Violence" will be drawn to those songs. The voice is alternately wounded and defiantly theatrical, so the best songs sound like confessions sang from a barstool. Overall, the record’s strongest songs turn melodrama into something grand and oddly convincing.
Key Points
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‘Serena’ is the best song for its sober, grand pop-rock affirmation of sincere romance.
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The album’s core strengths are its committed melodrama, alt-rock atmosphere and emotionally candid vocals.
Themes
Critic's Take
King Princess's Girl Violence reads like a giddy, bruised manifesto: the reviewer's voice revels in how tracks such as “Jaime” and “Cry Cry Cry” hit hardest, equal parts funny and devastating. The critic leans into the album's contradictions - louder, hornier, sadder, freer - and singles out “Jaime” as the crush anthem of the year while praising the scorched-earth bite of “Cry Cry Cry”. The tone stays playful and ferocious, noting how the theatrical “Girls” and the seductive “RIP KP” add texture while the stormy closer “Serena” cements the record's emotional arc. The reviewer frames these best tracks as both immediate and durable, songs that grab you by the collar and refuse to let go.
Key Points
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The best song is 'Jaime' because the reviewer calls it the 'crush anthem of the year' and highlights its painfully relatable pop heart.
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The album's core strengths are its embracing of contradiction, bold queer melodrama, sharp hooks, and emotional range from comedy to devastation.