Tina Fey is an experimental heavy rock three-piece from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in 2022 from the remains of Eunoia. Since then, the band has spent much of the last year locked into a cycle of writing and recording, shaping what would become their debut full-length, Victory Lap. The band describes the record simply; they want the people who would love it to find it.
The title carries equal parts exhaustion and triumph. Victory Lap emerged from an especially difficult year for the band collectively, and the name reflects both the weight of that experience and the fact that they came through it together. What began as a scattered group of songs written after their last tour gradually took on a more personal shape, becoming something far more deliberate and emotionally exposed.
Built around the singles Strigo and Dead In A Boat, the album balances intensity with a raw sense of immediacy. The heaviness never feels forced but moves naturally alongside moments that are more melodic, fractured, or unpredictable. Opener We All Can’t Die in Bed (First Part of the First One) sets the tone before giving way to the hardcore-driven urgency of Order of Operations (Newest One). Both tracks feel instinctive and direct, carrying an unvarnished energy that cuts straight through.
Strigo anchors the record at its center, while My Whole Life drifts into noise rock territory, dissolving structure without losing focus. The track's tension between chaos and control mirrors what also runs throughout the album, and that is something that gives the record much of its identity.
Say What You Think (feat. Lord Overstreet) stands out as one of the album’s most immersive moments, bringing in a southern sludge influence that feels natural and distinct. The track moves through darkness and unpredictability with patience and confidence, revealing another side of the band’s range without breaking the album’s cohesion.
Closing track Pli Ol (The Rest of the First Two) lands with overwhelming force, ending the record in a way that almost demands an immediate return to the beginning. Across its nine tracks, Victory Lap rarely settles into anything comfortable or fully clear, and that lingering sense of disorientation becomes part of its appeal.
The band comments on the record: "We really just want the people who will enjoy this album to find it. We put an insane amount of effort into this one and we’re really proud of it, so if nothing comes from it other than it being out there, that’s enuff for us. But also obviously we want Full of Hell to ask us to go on tour with them or something like that."
Victory Lap is out on vinyl, and can be purchased through the always based Mishap Records, and on Bandcamp.
ZR