She Might Bite

It's so exciting to get emails from bands that are JUST getting started in what are sure to be huge careers. I got such an email the other day from a girl named Tara in Kentucky. She and her sister Courtney started a band called She Might Bite and set out to make a folk EP. But then Tara got her hands on an electric guitar.

What followed was this four song rock EP. I've only heard the first track, "Sinister Device" And wow. I mean, this is rock and roll, people. It's full speed ahead rock with guitar solos that sneak up on you. I've never had the experience of a surprise guitar solo, but this song has two of them. I'm listening to it and all of a sudden it's like "SURPRISE the solo started 10 seconds ago and you were too busy rocking out to notice!" Love it.

"The sisters now view their EP as a catalyst. Drummer Kat Slaughter has joined and the trio is working on lots of new material inspired by hill country blues, 70s rock and punk." - From their bandcamp page

I'm really excited about this band and what will come of them. Go to their bandcamp page and get this album now. - Appetite for Distraction

Here's a track of the self-titled EP by She Might Bite, straight out of Louisville, Kentucky. That's bourbon country - and the girls on this cover look like their father might have a drinking problem. But addicition is complication, complication is pain, and pain makes great art. The ladies behind She Might Bite serve up a gnarly mix of rock n' roll Lucious Jackson, a li'l bit 'o' Guv'ner, a tiny smidge of Susu, a pocketful of Spanish guitar, with a side of Bikini Kill. Who knew that'd fit together so well? I love this EP start to finish, especially the rowdy "Sinister Device". Check it out in full at their Bandcamp, stalk 'em on Facebook, and trade pithy wit on Twitter! - QRO Magazine

She Might Bite are three southern girls who have an edge to them that not once comes off as disingenuous. It’s a part of them and it comes screaming through in their songs. On their bandcamp page, they tell the story of how they set out to record a folk record but a hard rockin’ EP came out instead. That’s just the way they are. Nothing here is forced, it’s just the free flow of what is already there. They just found a way to channel it into music.
Now there is alot of punk rock attitude on their self-titled EP; these girls know how to rock. But in my opinion, the best moments come on the EP’s softest track “Empty”. You’d be hard pressed to find a more haunting track than this one. It’s southern folk-rock sound and eerie storytelling vaguely reminds me of Nick Cave’s album Murder Ballads. It just has a similar feel. Hopefully it will stick with you the way it stuck with me. - Cactus Mouth

The trio known as She Might Bite released a grungy abridged epic of intelligent garage rock with their November EP Shemightbite. We missed it but this release deserves attention, punctual or not.

When you read that sisters Tara and Courtney Kimes set out to make a folk record and ended up with this, it's bound to be a bit surprising. The opening track "Sinister Device" would fit right in with anything from The Dead Weather (maybe it's the vocals) so right away, the "folk" label is off the table. Not that this is balls-to-the-wall punk-rock; it's not. But She Might Bite shares with The Dead Weather an energized romance with garage rock. Here's what they had to say about Shemightbite:

"Sisters Tara and Courtney Kimes set out to make a folk record in an old tobacco warehouse in the west end of Louisville, KY. Midway through the practice sessions the drummer handed Tara his electric guitar. What resulted was a rock EP that surprised everyone, including the sisters themselves. The sessions were memorable because of the warehouse's vast haunting rooms; from time to time bats would swoop down from the ceiling and circle overhead as the girls were recording the vocals. On the second day an old man with white hair and an australian accent mysteriously appeared in the studio and started doing magic tricks for everyone in the band. The sisters now view their EP as a catalyst. Drummer Kat Slaughter has joined and the trio is working on lots of new material inspired by hill country blues, 70s rock and punk."

As someone who reads self-written promotional copy with great regularity, I can say that the above paragraph is a good description. Judging from the resulting four tracks, we can be happy the girls had the ear to realize what they could produce outside the realm of "folk music." All the tracks aside from "Empty" find the group exploring the heavier side of their sound, recognizing the rewarding contrast between their flexible voices and the gravity of their gritty guitar licks. And it may be the best cover art of 2011 thus far. - In Your Speakers

Louisville’s She Might Bite is a cacophonous three piece XX unit that enlists a couple XYs to plump up their live attack, but seems to have little problem delivering self-righteous noise. Regulars on the Derby City music scene, these ladies are also pimping a self-titled debut EP that goes down like a closing time prairie fire, and we would be remiss if we didn’t take this opportunity to share the lead track, Sinister Device.

- My Old Kentucky Blog