Slinky Minx

Like all great rock'n'roll, Slinky Minx sound like something you should rub between your legs. Why is it that the music that's been taking us back to the heart of rock'n'roll seems more often than not to come from women? Think Sheryl Crow. Or drummer Meg White from the White Stripes. Or, perhaps, 4 Non Blondes. Indeed, Slinky Minx lead guitarist Laura O'Neal took three year of drumming lessons from 4 Non Blondes drummer Dawn Richardson, and as the Slinky Minx four-song demo demonstrates, she was an attentive student. It all happened one night when the Indiana native hooked up with Sonoma County homegirls Jen Newman, Julie Sperling and Teresa Peter at the Black Cat's rowdy Wednesday open mic show, and Slinky Minx slithered into being.

It's perhaps true that there, beneath the swaying bras tacked high in the Black Cat's overhead, innocence was lost. Yet a legend was born, and soon Slinky Minx were packing clubs like the Tradewinds, Connolly's and the Raven, with punky ballads to spurned love such as "Drowning", on with singer and rhythm guitarist Newman moans, after her lover fails to show up down by the river, "It's as if nothing ever happened/ It's as if you never called/ So what do I do with these hands today?/ The devil will find work, that's what they say."

Take it from me, these Minx don't stink. But be careful, sonny. They'll scratch your eyes out. Their two-guitar approach has been the essence of very great live rock'n'roll band since the Rolling Stones.
- R.V. Scheide, The Northbay Bohemian, 3/31-4/6/04
- Northbay Bohemian