Babes
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2011 | INDIE
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Here’s one that got put off for awhile. BABES, the savage garage punk crew from New Orleans dropped their debut on Pizza Burglar Records last year. We’re better late than never to share this little monster!
Released back in September, Babes don’t appear to have any other records to their name, but there’s no doubt that that will soon change. They’re a three piece and they self-describe their wild sound simply as “swamp rock.” Fair enough. They also share a drummer with scrappy punk band Buck Biloxi & the Fucks, who (you guessed it!) are also from New Orleans.
The album opens with the metal-crusted guitars in “Fun,” backed by pounding percussion and reverberating vocals. It quickly sets the tone of the LP, which becomes equal parts punk, pop and noise, and many parts bat-shit-insane. These three boys do a number on our ears, berating us blow after blow with their perfectly caffeinated slop-pop. Their songs are littered with anything from shrieking vocals (“Pussy Plastered”), mangled hooks (“Modern Lover”) and menacing synth work (“Jesus Pieces”), crafting up this lethally corrupted pop-punk. No song lasts over 2.5 minutes, meaning they get straight to the point and as sloppily as fucking possible. Babes is a grab-bag of this twisted swamp punk, with each speedy track being a monster of it’s own kind.
As for the remainder, this record is plastered with highlight after highlight. “My Poor Friends Suck” makes way with blown-out guitars, sounding tinny and sharp against a rhythm of thuds. It’s forever blazing in the red, shoving noisy, mangled soloing straight down our throats. “Jesus Pieces” is led by jagged guitars and twisted electronics, but lyrics about smoking crack with strangers and fake ID’s steal the show. The same goes for “Children of God,” “Whipits,” and “Coffin Nail,” all of which come with some kind of crazy vocal hook. “We Are the Babes” is an anthem of sorts, wherein the Babes remind us just who they are. It’s shadowy and totally evil, coming together with cavernous vocal chants and warbled noise. - styrofoamdrom.com
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
BABES is a punk/swamp/rock group based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. The trio--guitarist Ian Adams, drummer Sam Yoger, and synth player/vocalist Rhodes Murphy give a darker interpretation of garage and punk music, with spazzy riffs and stripped down compositions accompanied by wild guitar and gurgling synthesizer bass. The group began in 2011 and their success is a statement against the old funkadelic vanguard of the New Orleans music scene, joining others who prove there is more to New Orleans music than jazz standards and Meters covers. The groups stage antics and infectious tunes have earned them wide recognition in New Orleans area and beyond.
In a short few years, BABES has had the opportunity to play in support of Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, FUZZ, Japanther, NoBunny, The Magnetix, Ex-Cult, Natural Child, Catholic Spray, and the Dum Dum Girls among many other well-known national garage and punk rock acts. In 2013 BABES released their debut LP on Pizza Burglar Records and embarked on their first tour of the Midwest, playing with Quintron and Miss Pussycat, CAVE, and Buck Biloxi and the Fucks.
Band Members
Links
