Summer Cannibals
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Summer Cannibals

Portland, Oregon, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2012 | INDIE

Portland, Oregon, United States | INDIE
Established on Jan, 2012
Band Rock Garage Rock

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Summer Cannibals on NPR's All Songs Considered"

On their sophomore album, the members of Summer Cannibals bring raw and driving guitar rock, with shredding from front woman Jessica Bourdreaux and an attitude that honors the band's namesake, a song performed by Patti Smith. Though the Portland band isn't breaking new ground on "All It Takes," it's hard to deny the infectious energy bursting out of this track. Recorded nearly live, Show Us Your Mind arrives March 3. - NPR


"KEXP Song Premiere "Show Us Your Mind""

ortland quartet Summer Cannibals are hungry for more, returning with their sophomore release Show Us Your Mind, self-released via their own New Moss Records on March 3rd. Recorded and mixed by the famed Larry Crane at Jackpot Recording Studios, the album features the sharp Northwest punk-pop sound you fell in love with on their 2013 debut, No Makeup. KEXP is excited to present the worldwide debut of the album’s title track, “Show Us Your Mind,” which you can stream below.

Formed in 2012 by frontwoman Jessica Boudreaux and guitarist Marc Swart, the band took their name from an old Patti Smith song. The young group also takes her punk attitude, infusing it in their fuzzy, garage-pop songs. “It’s music that has been made for a long time. It’s not like we discovered some brand new thing,” says Boudreaux. “But life is short. Why not play music that makes you feel free, and crazy, and like you can do whatever you want?” - KEXP


"Summer Cannibals release razor-sharp 'Something New'"

Portland quartet Summer Cannibals formed in 2012, released their first album No Makeup the following year, and are just about to drop their follow-up. Show Us Your Mind shows off how much the band has evolved in the short time it’s been together, with songs that refine the fuzzy garage-pop of its debut into something sharper, tighter, and much more difficult to shake off. The lead single “Something New” is a bit of razor-edged bubblegum that balances taut verses with outbursts of wildly fuzzed-out guitar that along with a singsongy vocal performance by frontwoman Jessica Boudreaux brings to mind the delinquent pop stylings of the Runaways in their prime. - Entertainment Weekly


"Summer Cannibals - No Makeup"

Named for the Patti Smith song, Portland’s Summer Cannibals are ready to swallow us whole on their dazzling debut, No Makeup. A fittingly bare, back-to-basics style record, the polished quartet present ten turbulent tracks in effortless style, winking towards the future while nodding clearly towards the past. Gritty and loud but definitely fun through-and-through, No Makeup marks not just an impressive debut, but another notch on 2013’s already impressive belt; this is one we’ll still be talking about for months to come.

Summer Cannibals singer/guitarist Jessica Boudreaux and guitarist Marc Swart, who founded the band as a duo, decided to embrace a heavier sound after catching San Fran whiz kid Ty Segall for the very first time last summer. With bassist Lynnae Gryffin and drummer Valerie Brogden now on board, that decision has become a dream fully realized. Rich, sultry, and slightly foreboding, Jessica Boudreaux recalls shades of Karen O when she sings, enveloping her listener in a thoroughly smoky vocal style. “Since when are you virginal? Since when are you pure?” she hisses on “Wives,” a hypnotic later track that enchants with a classic bad-to-the-bone riff. Elsewhere, weighty garage-rock rhythms, sharp guitars, and persistent drums abound; still, Summer Cannibals aren’t afraid to showcase more pleasant pop melodies. Overall, think west coast power-pop meets pacific northwest grunge, or what might happen if Wavves got together with Savages to host a semi-sophisticated dinner party.

In between the many sunny “whoa-ohs” of album opener “Sounds,” Boudreaux displays her very best woman-scorned persona, singing, “I’m dreaming of this city on mute, where I can’t hear your band and I don’t pretend to care.” Title track “No Makeup” is utterly bewitching, while “Hey/I Was Saved” evokes sweet Pixies memories over a steady, sleepy beat. Later, there’s “Take Me Out,” where it’s Scottish post-punkers, be damned! Summer Cannibals “Take Me Out” is (almost) just as catchy, with a deliciously scratchy, rough-and-tumble twist.

By the time No Makeup drifts away into the slow, delicate haze of “The End,” you’ll be wishing the beginning was happening all over again. No worries, though; this is just the start for Summer Cannibals, a band who are all dressed down with nowhere but up to go. - AudioCred


"(Another) Great Track From Summer Cannibals"

Summer Cannibals just released a third track off their debut album, No Makeup, which gets an official release on the 6th August.

Like the previous two tasters, Take Me Out is brilliant, and may well be our favourite yet from the album. It’s an irresistibly good slab of garage punk that somehow deliberately (and cleverly) manages to meld a certain weary insouciance in the vocals with a wonderfully catchy guitar riff and melody.

It is also better than the Franz Ferdinand song of the same name. - Mad Mackerel


"Album Review: Summer Cannibals"

Someone done pissed off Summer Cannibals’ Jessica Boudreaux real good. “I’m dreaming of this city on mute,” she snarls on “Sounds,” the fuzz-bomb that opens the group’s self-produced debut, “where I can’t hear your band/And I don’t pretend to care.” Yikes. As anonymous fuck-you’s go, that cuts as deep as “You’re So Vain”—in a city like Portland, anyway.

Boudreaux doesn’t scream her anger: Throughout No Makeup, she seethes with raw tunefulness rather than open-throated rage. She leaves the aggression to her band. Guitarist Marc Swart plugs directly into the shared amp of the Cannibals’ Pacific Northwest garage-punk forebears, from Dead Moon through Sleater-Kinney, heaving chunks of concrete-heavy power chords over the rhythm section’s bulldozing swing and strangling his leads like the Pixies’ Joey Santiago. The band’s stomp is as big as its grooves: See the dinosaur-blues slither of “Wives,” with Boudreaux growling, “Since when are you virginal? Since when are you pure?”

No Makeup isn’t all vitriolic insinuations. “The Hand” and “No Makeup” are choked with self-loathing, while “Wear Me Out” bursts with sexual angst. Through her perpetually curled lip, even Boudreaux’s come-ons register as threats, but she makes both sound equally inviting. - Willamette Week (Print)


"I was saved by Portland's new carnivores of rock."

From the PDX indie pop landscape, meet Summer Cannibals' crew of Jessica, Marc, Lynnae and Valerie with a human hunger for any season as they premiere a first listen to their upcoming album, No Makeup, from New Moss Records. Portland's Cannibals devour a variety of attitudes and styles like the classic dismissive-put-down song "Sounds" that outlines the noises and whatever local clamor that they could do without. "I'm tired of the sounds, they make when they hit the ground, I'm dreaming of this city on mute, where I can't hear your band, and I don't pretend to care". Then the situation gets elevated to a heavier status with "Emergency" with the immediacy of "oooohs" backed up by the banter of dulling and soloing guitars. Casting off the reigns and ropes of external control, "The Hand" shakes off the interference with a rough and rumble floor tom-tumbling ruckus. "No Makeup" takes a deep breath of burning gusto to show up superficial crowds that act too cool to notice anyone or anything else around them; endemic of the appease and please game.

Fit for the couture of Portland's Red Light Clothing Exchange or Time Bomb, Jessica suggests on "Wear Me Out", "Let's pretend I'm your favorite dress, wear me every day and ignore everything else", to be worn out-but preferably not worn down. The great sound of the Northwest is alive and well with, "Hey/I Was Saved", that rolls on the heels of the rolling bass brings attention to the rough smiling colloquial, 'what was I saying' lyrics in the surefire quiet-loud format. "He holds me down and then he picks me up, they made me smile and then they roughed me up". Not the "Take Me Out" pop number you might be thinking from Scotland's archdukes; Summer Cannibals exhibit their over brimming thirst for fun here that pivots between the skronk of sweat soaked denim and celebratory high spirits. In a fake out lull, "Don't Think" starts out like a simple and slow toast to heedless behaviors before bursting into plugged in/turned up hedonism. Grinding down the album to a slug's trot, "Wives" observes armies of husbands and wives like opposing yippie legions of suburban encroachment. Smashing the old constructs and breaking the vases of irrelevant world cares, the Cannibals bid you temporary adieu with the closing Portland grunge lullaby, "The End", that falls steadily asleep to the chord assemblages that wind down to the last note struck. - Impose Magazine


"Stream Summer Cannibals' Scintillating Seduction 'Wear Me Out'"

Summer Cannibals are self-starters. Not only did the Portland, Oregon foursome self-produce their upcoming debut album, No Makeup, they also designed the cover art and plan to release the collection on their own label, New Moss Records. So it's not surprising that singer-guitarist Jessica Boudreaux sounds so self-assured on the garage-rock sweethearts' latest single, "Wear Me Out." Backed by a bopping drum beat and strutting riffs, Boudreaux delivers an irresistible come-on: "Let's pretend I'm your favorite dress," she sings. "You wear me every Sunday because I'm your best." Slip into the track below. - SPIN Magazine


"Song Premiere: Summer Cannibals"

It’s somewhere between the rumbling of the bass and the growl-inflected vocals of Jessica Boudreaux on “Hey I Was Saved” that you’ll first fall for Summer Cannibals.

The Portland, Oregon four-piece pick up where locals like The Wipers and The Thermals left off, with modern-grunge burners that aren’t so angry as to preclude a windows-rolled-down car singalong.

They’ll be showing off their chops with debut album No Makeup (out August 6 on their very own New Moss Records–they also self-produced the entire thing and made the album art, so we’re in serious DIY territory), but in the meantime you can listen to them right now for free–we’ve got the exclusive premiere and download of “Hey I Was Saved.” Keep reading to press play. –REBECCA WILLA DAVIS - NYLON Magazine Blog


"Summer Cannibals"

There’s a vicious edge to Summer Cannibals’ enticing brand of garage rock. Their songs bait the listener with ethereal vocals and fluid bass lines to establish a sense of security which sharp guitar tones and aggressive rhythms prove to be false. The dynamics shift and swell though kinetic attacks of distortion and eerie waves of vocal melody that serve to tie the tracks together with sublime dexterity as can be heard on their self-titled release. I’m not sure if they change their cannibalistic behavior in the winter, but if you’re willing to risk it I’d highly recommend being at Mississippi Studios on Thursday night to experience their lively performance for yourself. - Benjamin Toledo - The Deli Portland


"Summer Cannibals (with Dead Folk), SoHiTek Gallery, Feb 15"

Speaking of baby bands: Summer Cannibals, formed last year, is still in its infancy, but the rock group's members boast pedigrees from other fine local outfits such as Your Canvas and Adventures! with Might, and the couple songs it's posted to Bandcamp, where grungy guitars and hard-driving percussion give a '90s-alt edge to singer Jessica Boudreaux's bluesy vocals, show much promise.
- Portland Monthly


"Introducing: Summer Cannibals"

In the cultural hotbed of Portland OR, most bands qualify as a super-group of sorts. Summer Cannibals are no exception, combining a history of Your Canvas, Pocketknife, Adventures! With Might and more to make their own special brew of garage recorded hawk and spit. Not heard of any of them? Me either, but if these songs are anything to go by that just means we’re on the cusp of filling a great gaping hole in our music collection.

‘Cannibals are blistering. They automatically qualify for a name abbreviation; I might even start calling them SC if they don’t watch it. They take the keyboard shenanigans that clutter and make great most of Spencer Krug’s output with a vocal performance right out of the gob of Mary Timony. Impressive comparisons do not get more seminal than that. June’s single “Handle This Love” and heavier b-side “Can’t Get Enough” are the lovechild of Kill Rock Stars and a punk riff sauced down with the cultural significance of the internet revolution. Finally, a band the children of the 80s can be proud of, and I’m not even sure how old the band are, I’m just hoping they’re younger than 33. - Drunken Werewolf


"Summer Cannibals – Handle This Love"

Believe it or not, Summer Cannibals are still so new that they only got their first review back at the end of June. Well from here on out that’s probably going to change thanks to Handle This Love, the A-side to what would be their debut 7?. The peculiar song offers a wide variety of influences, ranging from pulsing post-punk to boiling psych-rock, featuring lysergic synths and Jessica Boudreaux’s gorgeous voice as she howls away. There’s a short bridge in the midst of the track that features a glowing, quivering guitar lick, which totally intensifies the underlying creepiness of the song itself. Go on to check out the B-side “Can’t Get Enough” and you will quickly learn of their evil, nefarious tendencies.

Check out both of these songs now – they’re dripping with attitude. Then hopefully someday this stuff will be pressed to vinyl! - The Styrofoam Drone


"Full Of It Pitchfork Review"

For their third album, Portland's Summer Cannibals signed to the legendary local label Kill Rock Stars. KRS president Portia Sabin has said that the band “take us back to our roots,” and in songwriter/guitarist Jessica Boudreaux, the four-piece have an insurrectionist frontwoman worthy of the label's well-populated hall of fame. But on Full of It, Summer Cannibals toughen up their assault and hark back to the heavy scene that the Pacific Northwest punks killed off in the late 1980s. Their wailing riff-o-rama, double-tracked guitars, and sharp arpeggios soundtrack Boudreaux's frustrations with a dead-end relationship, wielding (and subverting) machismo rock tropes against a domineering, unavailable guy.

On paper, a lot of Boudreaux's lyrics can seem strangely submissive, pleading for validation and putting her faith in a union that she knows is doomed. “You turn a blind eye to my every appeal,” she sings on “I Wanna Believe.” “You make me feel like nothing matters but I still see your face/It makes me weak.” Her sneering delivery, though, is a self-aware send-up of this piteous-yet-sometimes-inevitable state, and the frustration that can accompany succumbing to such basic romance woes. She puts her anguish into wider context on the lumbering, cathartic closer “Simple Life,” questioning whether it's enough to want a “simple love and a simple home.” It's reminiscent of White Lung, whose recent fourth album Paradise sounds like a hairier sibling to Full of It, and also finds Mish Way reconciling her punk background with her conventional desires.

The 11 songs on Full of It barely break the three-minute mark, and wed incendiary fretwork to bottom-end that rolls like a boulder down a marble run. They can do stadium ragers (“Go Home”), suspenseful Sonic Youth-indebted menace (“Just a Little Bit”), sludgy girl-groupisms (“Say My Name”), euphoria (“The Lover”), and on “Not Enough,” the brittle conversation between Boudreaux and Marc Swart's guitars evokes early Sleater-Kinney. Summer Cannibals balance the abjection of their lyrics by playing like they're auditioning to ride the flame-belching rig in Mad Max: Fury Road.

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Despite the ambiguity of some of her lyrics, Boudreaux's ire is rarely in dispute across these songs thanks to her bile-drenched delivery, though the moments where she makes it explicit are particularly good. “Talk Over Me” is full of coolly insolent, stinging riffs that accompany Boudreaux telling some paternalistic ass where to get off: “I'm not gonna let you talk over me one more time, and I'm not gonna wait for someone else to say that I'm right.” That self-assurance is why Full of It works: Boudreaux can sing from a position of weakness thanks to Summer Cannibals' palpable confidence. On the title track, which kicks back at the music press, she makes perfectly clear that her sense of self doesn't hinge on anyone else's approval: “Tell me my worth, I'll tell you my pitch,” Boudreaux drawls, before scoffing: “Another lie, yeah, another unreachable itch.” Full of It may not sound like classic Kill Rock Stars fare, but in these complex negotiations of power—both emotional and musical—they both fit right in and offer a smart update to their history. - Pitchfork


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

Summer Cannibals aren’t wasting any time. The punk-flecked four-piece from Portland hit the ground at full speed, their 2013 debut album No Makeup catching people completely off-guard in their hometown and beyond. In just a few short months, Summer Cannibals earned deserved props from some of their heroes—including a ringing endorsement from the Thermals—opened for international touring bands like Chvrches, and found themselves at #2 on the coveted “Best New Band” list in Willamette Week. Now they’re back with their second full-length, the raw, to-the-point Show Us Your Mind. As before, Summer Cannibals come armed only with the things they need: fuzz pedals, razor-sharp riffs, and songs that get stuck in your head the first time you hear ’em.

The group formed around guitarist/vocalist Jessica Boudreaux and guitarist Marc Swart in 2012, their sound fueled by Boudreaux’s songwriting chops and the band’s full-volume fervor, which flows most fluidly during Summer Cannibals’ head-turning live shows. To capture that live spark, the band recorded Show Us Your Mind at Portland’s hallowed Jackpot Studios with Larry Crane (Sleater-Kinney, Elliott Smith, Tape Op) behind the board. The group recorded and mixed to tape, working quickly to capture the momentum, and Show Us Your Mind is both a continuation of the straightforward statement-of-purpose on No Makeup, as well as an effective introduction to the band’s ultimately catchy clang. These are pop songs played at air-raid volume, serving as a simple tonic for day-to-day frustrations.
“It’s music that has been made for a long time. It’s not like we’ve discovered some brand new thing,” Boudreaux says. “But life is short. Why not play music that makes you feel free, and crazy, and like you can do whatever you want?”

Show Us Your Mind is due out March 3rd on New Moss Records

Band Members