A lot of bands seem to now throw themselves into genres and sound nothing like it at all. They’ll call themselves indie when they really aren’t. Whether or not indie even exists anymore is a different topic (and you won’t find the answer in NME!)

 

In the first issue of Freeq I said it was about time a female-fronted band made history. I think we have the band that could possibly do this and last a long long time.

The Smears are a lovely band from Nottingham, on their MySpace page they are listed as grunge/punk and they actually do sound like how they have labelled themselves. About bloody time!

 

The Smears are Maimee, Miss C and C.Doll and their sound is like a mixture of Hole and The Distillers with a touch of Patti Smith to make their sound raw. Since The Distillers split up a few years ago, I felt a void in my music collection (or maybe it’s because I’m too poor to buy anything!) but The Smears pick up where Brody & Co left off. I have heard some female bands call themselves punk and be quite annoyed that they would do such a thing, but with The Smears you know that they are not lying.

 

I’m writing this listening to Gluttony for the third time and I don’t think I’ll be getting bored of it anytime soon. I urge you to go see them live NOW. You have no excuse; they are playing damn near everywhere- even Dublin! No excuses go see them. You’ll love it.

 

 

Their name may cause them to have a bit of a rough time, but it’s just a name. It’s not exactly a swear word now is it! Make of it what you will. It can be a smear test, having your name tainted, lipstick smearing- it has female connections, makes sense really doesn’t it.  As singer Maimee says, “It’s a word that people don’t seem to like for some reason and we get judged because of it but it’s not that hard once you say it a few times!” Don’t be afraid of the word readers, or the band!

 

 

On their website, it says: “The Smears will kick you in the teeth and rip your heart right outta your chest” and it is true. You will not be disappointed, so head over to iTunes to get the album and go see them live. Oh, and enjoy!