The Girls

THE GIRLS
s/t 7“
Milk & Chocolate Records

Ein überraschendes Lebenszeichen der Girls aus Seattle, die ich nach ihrem 2004er-Longplayer auf Dirtnap Records bzw. Radio Blast Recordings schon in der Versenkung verschwunden wähnte.
Auf dieser liebevoll gestalteten und auf 500 limitierten Single im griffigen Hardcover melden sie sich eindrucksvoll und quicklebendig zurück.
Ich würde das Ganze als von Punkspirit beseelten Synthie-NewWave-Powerpop bezeichnen, der auf „Transfer Station“ flott daherkommt, während „Elephant Tricks“ die etwas gedrosselte und schrägere Variante bietet. 2 schöne und eingängige Songs in der exakt richtigen Dosierung – genau dafür werden Singles gemacht und genau deswegen werden sie nie ihre Attraktivität verlieren. Cheesy
20. Mai 2008 | Homepage Label - Moloko Plus

The Spits and The Black Lips played a sold-out show at The Crocodile Friday night on the first stop of their West Coast tour.

The Girls, indie glam-punk rockers from Seattle reminiscent of ‘70s groups like The Cars and Devo, opened up first with high energy and tight pants. Lead singer Shannon Brown carried the set with short, catchy vocals similar to those of their predecessors’ songs “Just What I Needed” and “Whip It,” while bassist Griff and guitarist Zache Davis made way for Brown’s energetic dance moves across the stage. Keyboardist Derek Mason and drummer Elie Goral kept the audience guessing with abrupt finishes and smooth transitions, so much so there was hardly time to breathe between songs. Before long, 30 minutes had passed and the crowd was revved up and ready for the next band.

“Hey guys, what time is it?” Spits bassist Erin Wood yelled as he ran onstage. Walls rattled as nearly everyone in the club shouted back, “It’s Spits o’clock!” This all-male group, also from Seattle, has been around since the early ‘00s but boasts a garage punk sound straight out of the ‘80s. Self-proclaimed as “Punk for the People,” keyboardist Darren Benson played dark synthesized beats from behind a silver hazmat suit while Wood and his brother, guitarist Sean Wood, soloed in matching trench coats, aviators and mohawks. Repetitive lyrics and crazy antics had beer spraying and fans crowd-surfing to the stage in no time, yet to a lesser degree than the tight-knit punk shows The Spits became known for at The Funhouse.

The Black Lips ended the night with a Southern drawl straight from the heart of Atlanta. A younger version of The Spits, they too got the crowd going and spraying with their bluesy punk rock sound, living up to their reputation for out-of-control shows. Currently promoting the release of their fifth album, Good Bad Not Evil, Black Lips frontman Cole Alexander rocked the stage with his harmonica and lead vocals while bassist Jared Swilley and guitarist Ian Brown jammed catchy riffs from behind. Influenced by bands like The Sonics, The Black Lips’ chaos continued up to their last song “O Katrina,” a pop fan favorite written the night the group learned of the devastating events of Hurricane Katrina. Together, the three bands proved that Seattle will never tire of a tight punk line-up.

-Review by Jena Vuylsteke; photo by Talia Tupling
- Performer

When the Crocodile Cafe shut down last month, a lot of people were left in the lurch, nobody more so than the club's suddenly out-of-work employees. Sure, bands and fans had to relocate shows, but at least they had other clubs and booking agents eager to help pick up the pieces. Finding a new job is more difficult.

So it's great that Chop Suey has been hosting some "Unscrew the Crocodile" benefit shows to help out the old venue's jilted employees. The first of two events happened December 30 and featured an all-star lineup of performers including Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold, J. Tillman, David Bazan, Damien Jurado, Aqueduct, Sean Nelson (who ran up to play before his set with Harvey Danger down at Neumo's), Pleasureboaters, and Spencer Moody. The Long Winters' John Roderick was the surprise guest for the evening ("Mark Arm couldn't make it," he said). Revered Croc soundman Jim Anderson worked the boards for the evening. Chop Suey booker Pete Greenberg (who jumped ship just before the Croc sank) and company raffled off relics from the Croc and sold autographed floor plans to help raise money.

Last week, I mentioned that a lot of local rock shows hadn't felt like much of a scene lately, especially compared to something like the Program. This benefit was a welcome repudiation, a reminder of what makes music a community rather than just a business. The place was packed, and not just with fans—though no doubt everyone there would count themselves a fan of the Croc and at least some of the bands—but with artists and record-label people and promoters. When the people watching the shows include the people making the shows happen, that's community.

The night was a rousing success. Greenberg estimates at least 400 people paid: "We're dealing with 13 or 14 employees and we should be able to get them a nice little bit of cash for their holidays and their postholiday blues."

The atmosphere was simultaneously somber (due to the funereal vibe and the several acoustic/folksy performers) and celebratory (thanks to the loving crowd). Fleet Foxes' Pecknold played a version of "Katie Cruel" in the style of Karen Dalton. Aqueduct's David Terry reminisced about his first show at the Croc, dedicated a 10-year-old "Happy New Year" song to the venue ("Happy New Year, Croc—it's gonna be sad without you, but we're gonna carry on"), and ended the night with a cover of Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" (aided by the Catch/U.S.E's Carly Nicklaus). It was appropriately sad, fun, and a group effort.

"It was everything I really wanted it to be," Greenberg says of the night. "Just a great, positive experience, especially coming on the tail of something that wasn't so positive. It was a nice excuse for everyone to get together and be nice, for everyone to just be buddies and hang out. That strong sense of community was rad. That feeling that night is what made the Crocodile what it was. It's great to see that continue on."

The January 4 show, the second "Unscrew the Crocodile" event, featuring the Coconut Coolouts, the Intelligence, the Girls, Das Llamas, and Sam Rousso Soundsystem, was less of a wake and even more of a party. The crowd was smaller, but tons of other bands and veteran scenesters showed up, and the down-but-not-out atmosphere of the previous benefit was replaced by more unrestrained, drunken revelry. However the Croc's old employees are doing, it seemed like Seattle's music scene was going to be just fine.

Helping to offset the loss of the Croc (not to mention Kincora, etc.) is the announcement that Kincora's Che Sabado and Jamie Garza will be opening a new bar in the long-troubled (some say cursed) space most recently inhabited by failed gay/not-gay dance club Sugar. The new club will be called King Cobra, and will be, according to the owners, "home to a diverse mix of live acts as well as be a bar where locals can come and relax." The space can hold 475 people, placing it on par, capacity wise, with the old Crocodile or Chop Suey. The new owners plan to remodel the place, starting with the stage, the sound system, and a coat of black paint—and given how much design went into Sugar, they've got their work cut out for them. As for the booking, Sabado says, "We want to feature everything from hiphop to punk, metal, alt-country, comedy, and even DJs." Even DJs! He says, "We don't want to be known as a club where you only go see certain music, because the music fans in Seattle like all kinds of music." - The Stranger

It's got all the makings of a Three's Company-style farce: Five guys from Seattle form a nü-wave/punk band, dub themselves the Girls, then hit the road to rock dive-bar patrons from coast to coast. Watch the hilarious misunderstandings unfold!

"The other night in L.A. this guy comes up to us and goes, 'Wait a minute, you guys are not the Girls,'" says singer Shannon Brown, checking in from the Arizona desert. "We were like, 'Sure enough, buddy, we are,' and he was all, 'Damn, I came all the way out here to see an all-girl rock band!' And I'm thinkin', why don't you just go to a strip club and jack off or somethin'? It's a little creepy... dudes like that come out of the woodwork for that all-girl shit."

Hard-up knuckleheads aside, those crowds are finding out what tastemaking Seattleites already know: The Girls are one of our most entertaining exports, owners of absurdly fun, energetic hooks that owe plenty to the Cars and a ton of late-'70s glam-pop outfits. Yeah, they can scorch a club with their loud, crunchy riffage, but songs like "Flesh" and "Return to Zero" also contain enough affected vocal squeals and yelps to make the Girls the perfect band for that "last dance of the year" scene in any '80s teen flick.

It's gone over well so far--the band (which includes guitarists Vas Kumar and Zach Davis, bassist Ricky Way, and drummer Mario) sold out its stock of new self-titled EPs only a few days into a recent month-long tour--but Brown knows there's still a lot of road ahead for the Girls.

"We started out calling it the 'Payin' the Dues' tour, then changed it three nights in to the 'Moppin' the Floors' tour, and now we've finally settled on the 'Fat and Out of Control' tour," he laughs. "We're a long way from home and we made 35 bucks last night, but when you're driving from one city to the next, blasting some Zeppelin and lookin' out the window watching everything go by, you just get a smile on your face like, 'This is it!'" - The Stranger