"Denaturing" is the debut full-length album from the Canadian band, NOVA DOLL. Their Bandcamp page describes the album as a: "heavy stoner rock experience through seven tracks, simultaneously laced with garage riffs and punk snarl." The album will be released on September 29th, 2023 on the Tarantula Tapes record label They sound to me like desert rock with influences from DEAD KENNEDYS and PIXIES. The first track, "The Circle," begins with the sounds of wind gusts. The "whistling wind gusts as an intro" trope annoys me. Most non-musical intros rub me the wrong way. I will give NOVA DOLL the benefit of the doubt in case my attitude towards intros is just a "me" thing. The song itself has a fuzzy stoner guitar riff and an occult rock vibe. There isn't much punk influence in this case and it plays out like an average stoner rock tune.

The following track, "Waydown," also begins with a wind sample. This one plays out like a down-tuned distorted guitar riff with the pacing of a DEAD KENNEDYS banger. It's a fun song with some great time changes. The main riff is a bit too distorted for my liking though. The notes start to run together just a touch. "California Sunshine" also has some of the guitar notes bleeding into each other, but, in this case, it works better here than it did on the previous track. Casey Cuff's vocals come with a hefty dose of reverb, which is also a boon. I like the mood that this track sets, but my short attention span craves more variety.

The next three tracks throw some ACID KING and PIXIES flair into the pot and Cuff mixes up her vocals a bit. The bass guitar licks are impressive in "Denaturation" but I find these tracks to be fine, but forgettable. The album closer, "Dead Before I Knew It," begins with a slow, stoner rock riff before the PIXIES vibe comes back. My favorite part is when they lean hard into punk territory. I am not a fan of songs that end in guitar feedback though. That makes the whispered vocals harder to make out. As a whole, I enjoyed my time with NOVA DOLL and I think that they have plenty of potential. I don't know of any other bands merging punk and stoner rock as well as they do. I feel like "Denaturing," is in the "promising opening act" space. They have a solid debut album but they just aren't there yet.