Tag Archives: Virginia

SHAWNIS AND THE SHIMMERS.

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Every once in a while I find a band that makes me want to pack up everything I own (including my cat but she probably owns me) and move to the place where a band I’ve fallen in love with are. One listen of Shawnis And The Shimmers and I am hooked and mentally escaping to Richmond, Virginia to follow them around and become their biggest fan. However, I can’t do it so I’ll do it from afar and from my mind.

Shawnis And The Shimmers make the kind of DIY style music that makes you disregard everything you’ve ever heard. There’s this beautiful basement band feel to their sound- this infectious raw style that will just stay with you on a loop for hours on end. I’ve definitely fallen in love here. There’s also the side that makes me wish I had an ounce of musical talent so I could make songs like they do. Instead, I just write about what I love instead because I can just about do that! There’s this slight Rockabilly sound going on, but for me it’s the muffled vocals and that fuzzy sound of theirs that I just adore.

They’ve got a couple of releases up on their Bandcamp page, and of course they leave you wanting more. Every strong band does that. If I was someone who couldn’t get to sleep at night (for the most part I can) I’d be blasting their sounds out through my headphones every night around 2am until my body finally felt like all energy had been zapped out of me, and my brain had calmed down a bit. This band make the kind of music that you just want to have constantly playing- treat ’em like your own personal soundtrack to your daily life- even if you’re doing mundane tasks.

They released the Wasteland Demo a year ago and a few months later in October, they released the Shimmer Shake EP. I love both records, and they both sum up their sound perfectly. Unapologetically loud and the kind of Queer Punk band I can’t get enough of. They make you want to trash your room, trash someone else’s room even! Their sound is so liberating, and in a way reminds me of New York Dolls and how they weren’t afraid to really push themselves with their sound. But there’s also hints of Riot Grrrrl flowing through. In short, this band are where its at! Imagine growing up in a town in the middle of nowhere then all of a sudden you hear this band! It’d change your life wouldn’t it! You’d finally believe there was a way out.

Wasteland Demo record is ridiculous. It’s so good it should be a crime. It’s got a gnarly sound to it that makes you feel like you’re hearing the future of something that’s yet to be named yet. What I love about this record in particular is that they make you fee as if you’re watching them in a garage or basement rehearsing these songs but at the same time- having this unfiltered sound that is so raw that it is already perfect this way. A chaotic noise-fest which is just a delight to the ears. You’ve got songs like Beer Jacket and Don’t Wait Up are underground classics. You can easily imagine every single one of their songs being played in queer dive bars that exude freedom in all ways possible, and everyone just screaming the songs back at the band- covered in sweat and beer. Maybe not even your own but who cares!

There’s hints of bands like Dead Boys in some of their songs like Wasteland, and that’s all you could ever want from your new favourite Punk band, right?! I don’t know if Shawnis And The Shimmers may ever make it to the UK to tour, but in my mind when I listen to them- I am front row singing the songs right back at them. Their sound is pure magic and you just can’t get enough of it.

THE YOU GO GIRLS: Teeth.

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By now it is fairly clear that Kafadan Kontak Records keep on putting out exceptional records by bands that will just blow your mind so brutally and so beautifully. The You Go Girls are another band that KKR have taken on. If you’re looking for something to free your mind, then Teeth is the perfect record to do it to.

Teeth is a hyperactive record from start to finish! Every song is a delight for the ears, a proper Garage Rock treat for you. Every song will make you want to move and it’ll make you think you’ve supped 6 beers,and can’t stand up without even touching a drop. It’s a proper rowdy record and you feel it right in your bones.

These 9 blistering songs never hit the 3 minute  (apart from the closer, Red Planet which hits around the 6 minute mark)they have that fast-paced sound us Punks love so much, and the way they just ruin your hearing with the sheer loudness is insane. You know when you just hear something so loud and powerful, and you start questioning what the fuck you did before you heard this record? That’s how I feel about The You Go Girls.

The record opens with Eaten Alive which sounds like The Doors on the strongest acid imaginable- even the Lizard King himself couldn’t handle this one. There’s a real 60s Psychedelic feel to this record, especially on Eaten Alive. It’s spooky, creepy and it sounds like an anthem for a cult that is trying to lure you in. Hey, if they make music like this then I think a fair amount of us would sign up!

Teeth is a wild record, and it has this beautiful energy to it that you just can’t get enough of. You want to keep it on repeat, you want the band to just keep on putting record after record out. I have no idea how long this band has been going or how many records they have put out, but trust me, this is their best work and most certainly one of the best records KKR have put out.

It’s everything you could possibly want from a gnarly Rock band who have all this energy that they just need to unleash. They are definitely a band we all need to see live- can you imagine how wild their shows are?! You can just imagine it now- a venue that has questionable liquids on the floor so your shoes stick, covered in sweat and warm beer, the band diving into the crowd trying to keep themselves upright and everyone just having the best time. I miss gigs so much, and bands like The You Go Girls make me miss it way more than I anticipated. However, the record does make you feel like you are at one of their shows so if you have the same hankering as me for a gig, then just close your eyes and play Teeth super loud and go nuts!

The You Go Girls cannot be tamed. Their sound cannot be defined. Their songs are drunken anthems to lose yourself in. They are just a really exciting band, and Teeth is by far one of the most energetic and wild records I’ve heard in a while. Take songs like Street Party and Skeleton Baby- they are just off the wall. This isn’t a band who care for making music to please anyone, you can tell they do it to release this pent up energy they have and in turn, they help the listener do the same. That’s why it works and that is why they sound so good!

Take joy wherever you can. Take it from this record. Take it from this band. Let yourself go as wild as possible!