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May 12, 2008
The Girls of Spring
Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Pussy Galore's Julie Cafritz, and the Boredom's Yoshimi P-We return as the world's most terrifyingly intimidating female super-group, Free Kitten. Where Pavement bassist Mark Ibold previously filled the band's token male indie-rock luminary role, we now have J. Mascis bashing the hell out of a drum kit (and kicking the proceedings off with a righteous sneeze). A nasty grumble of a guitar line is the ingredient that'll shake your guts, but Cafritz adds even more bad vibes as the featured screaming banshee. "Survival of the fittest is a cruel cruel hoax" she drolly intones. I doubt these sisters in badassery would have any natural predators under any alternative laws of the jungle that she might propose.
Lissy Trullie - "Self-Taught Learner"
We know switch our attention to downtown cool of an entirely more aloof quality. Fetching tomboy Lissy Trullie is already a bit of a renowned fashion plate, chanteuse, scenester, and (we can only assume) incorrigible heartbreaker in advance of her debut EP. Its title track is a perfectly nonchalant cool breeze of a song, with slightly chugging guitars and low-key studio affects getting out of the way to let her nicotine saturated voice fill most of its empty space. It's deep but slight, and if you weren't graced with the above visual, you might assume it was coming from an adrogyne on the other side of the chromosome divide. If there's a nit to pick, it's that the song doesn't feel weighty enough to sustain itself after the lofty bridge at the two-minute mark. Brevity could have been another quill with which to smite hapless passers-by. But at the risk of being slightly condescending, a look at the above photo should clue you in on how much advice she needs to take from me in order to be successful.
Tickley Feather - "The Python"
This track, from Philadelphia single mom Annie Sachs' home-recorded debut has been floating around the internet for a minute, but it's too hypnotic to allow it to pass by unremarked. The song's various elements are pasted over each other like scissored bits in a stylish collage. The beat isn't guiding the wandering-in-a-fog vocal melodies, though it accidentally keeps time for the idle piano circles that seem piped in by loudspeaker from a far away warehouse. Its spare and pretty rather than forced, though. A would-be happy accident that was probably much more deliberate than it initially seems.
Ponytail - "Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From an Angel)"
Ponytail might have been a math rock boys club if not for the completely bonkers vocal styling of improbably wee front-gal Molly Sigel. This track is the racing heart of the Baltimore band's forthcoming Ice Cream Spiritual, spending seven minutes alternately sprinting away from hornets or stealing a few winks in the shade. Sigel's lungs are a living, wailing instrument of destruction, adding texture but not concrete meaning. She gives 100% conviction to screeches and purrs both, highlighting the reckless fun in the speeding guitar lines. Instrumental pyrotechnics that could have been a wonk too far are instead thrillingly alive and neon-colored.
P.S. I'm not sure if this kitty has offcially cleared the bag yet, but New Yorkers will be able to see these guys for free at this summer's After the Jump Festival!
Posted by Jeff Klingman at May 12, 2008 01:24 PM
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Comments
It's fun just saying the words "Tickely Feather".
Posted by: Kelli at May 12, 2008 01:59 PM
