There’s a certain kind of debut album that arrives polished to a chrome finish, every edge sanded down by committee. Be Sweet To Me, the first full-length release from Violet Grohl, wants nothing to do with that stuff. Instead, it crashes through the speakers like a thunderstorm, a diary left open by someone just daring you to take a peek. Recorded between late 2024 and early 2025 at producer Justin Raisen’s Los Angeles home studio, the album pulls together a loose collective of musicians inspired by the legendary Wrecking Crew session players of the ’60s and ’70s. But while the setup may nod to classic pop craftsmanship, the spirit of Be Sweet To Me lives somewhere between a basement punk show and a half-remembered nightmare from a David Lynch film.

The album’s breakout single, “THUM,” is the perfect entry point into Grohl’s warped sonic scrapbook. Inspired by the packaging of anti-nail-biting polish she brought into the studio, the track cruises on fuzzy guitars and amped-up anxiety. “Self help me/Self help myself/Chew my bitter fingers,” she snarls with a sweetly disturbing delivery as the song jitters and convulses with the energy of someone clawing at their own skin.

Grohl wears her influences proudly, and they’re the kind that come with ripped fishnets and distortion pedals. The ghosts of Pixies, Soundgarden, Cocteau Twins, L7, Björk, and the Breeders all hover over the album like ghosts in a haunted rehearsal room. Yet Be Sweet To Me never feels like she’s doing cosplay. Grohl manages to filter those influences through her own oddball lens, coming up with songs that might sound familiar in vibe but are emotionally jagged in entirely new ways. Nowhere is that more haunting than “Bug In A Cake,” a slippery, melodic fever dream inspired by Grohl moving into the home of her late grandmother. Over guitars that rise and fall like warped tape, she sings, “Turn the TV off so it turns back on/Come on, grandma, play me your favorite song,” transforming grief into something eerie, tender, and strangely comforting.

For a debut, Be Sweet To Me feels remarkably self-assured without losing its unpredictability. Violet Grohl isn’t simply mining the past, she’s ripping open the attic walls of alternative rock history and letting the dust swirl into something new.