Golden Grrrls
Sea Lions, What Next?, Slonk Donkerson
Wed, April 3, 2013
8:30 pm
Glasslands Gallery
Brooklyn, NY
$10.00
Tickets
This event is 21 and over
http://www.popgunbooking.com/event/211853/Golden Grrrls
Glasgow's Golden Grrrls are Eilidh Rodgers, Ruari MacLean and Rachel Aggs. What began as bedroom guitar experimentation soon bloomed into a fully-formed pop language inspired by the 80s New Zealand and Australian indie pop scenes, DIY punk and Glasgow's own rich pop history (think The Vaselines, The Pastels). Drummer Eilidh Rodgers' inventive, loose-cannon drumming and lead vocals have framed MacLean's baritone from the beginning, with newest member Rachel Aggs (also of Trash Kit) bringing an effortless melodic sensibility on guitar and backing vocals. Golden Grrrls’ first releases exemplified the lo-fi aesthetic they came from. Now long sold out, the two previous 7”s on Night School married the roughed-up recording dynamic with a boisterous, inventive melodic sense that has blossomed further on this, their self-titled debut LP.
For Golden Grrrls the band has written eleven perfect songs about life's realities dressed in three-part harmonies, heart-tugging changes and a playing style derived from punk and classic crash-pop enthusiasm. Like contemporaries Twerps and Sea Lions, they've joined a storied lineage of pop essentialists such as The Clean, The Bats and The Feelies -- bands who eschew complexity for concision and never sacrifice melody to mere primitivism. Each chord, beat and vocal line is perfectly placed, essential and simply has to exist as it is in its moment in time.
With all three members singing throughout, the harmonies and guitar lines interweaving, there’s a warmth in every song that adds to the poignant punch of the album as a whole. Opener ‘New Pop’ is a blast of breakneck spiked power pop while "Think Of The Ways" is a sweetly melancholic song that plays MacLean and Rodgers’ vocals against each other. "Take Your Time" and "Date It" are a punked-up indie pop gems, while album closer "We’ve Got…" is the catchiest 'anthem’ you’ll hear from a band that would be repulsed at the idea of writing anthems.
For Golden Grrrls the band has written eleven perfect songs about life's realities dressed in three-part harmonies, heart-tugging changes and a playing style derived from punk and classic crash-pop enthusiasm. Like contemporaries Twerps and Sea Lions, they've joined a storied lineage of pop essentialists such as The Clean, The Bats and The Feelies -- bands who eschew complexity for concision and never sacrifice melody to mere primitivism. Each chord, beat and vocal line is perfectly placed, essential and simply has to exist as it is in its moment in time.
With all three members singing throughout, the harmonies and guitar lines interweaving, there’s a warmth in every song that adds to the poignant punch of the album as a whole. Opener ‘New Pop’ is a blast of breakneck spiked power pop while "Think Of The Ways" is a sweetly melancholic song that plays MacLean and Rodgers’ vocals against each other. "Take Your Time" and "Date It" are a punked-up indie pop gems, while album closer "We’ve Got…" is the catchiest 'anthem’ you’ll hear from a band that would be repulsed at the idea of writing anthems.
Sea Lions
SEA LIONS, it seems, at this point need no introduction. PTP faves since their birth as a band back in 2005 (when the lads were still teenagers), and now touring the world by storm on the heels of their first hit LP on Slumberland, and in preparation for what promises to be an even bigger second. (Trust me here, I've already heard the breathtaking demos!)
What Next?
Slonk Donkerson
Slonk Donkerson is a band consisting of Parker Silzer ’12, Dylan VanDenHoeck and Zack O’Brien. They grew up together in a pristine slice of suburbia in NY called Pound Ridge, but Dylan warmly refers to it as “The Shire” because of its “lush and calm” nature. The band recorded a short EP Wyoma last year and just released their first full-length, self-titled LP this summer, both of which you can pick up now free on their website. In addition, they’ve recently played a few shows at local all-purpose-artsy-space AS220 as well as at similar venues in New York City.
While Slonk Donkerson officially formed about a year ago, its roots run much deeper. Parker, the guitarist, and Dylan, the bassist and lead singer, have been jamming together “for forever,” according to Parker. Their previous musical projects leaned more toward the “folky, bearded, acoustic-guitar-strumming” side of the rock spectrum before they shaved off the facial hair and plugged in their axes. They recruited Zack, an old friend, to drum with them, and so Slonk Donkerson was born.
Parker and Dylan came up with the silly yet harmonious moniker “Slonk Donkerson” by “just sitting around giggling and making up weird titles,” according to Parker. Little did they know that “slonk” according to Urban Dictionary.com can mean either: 1) “A very annoying person”; 2) “A sudden onset of tiredness”; or 3) “An enormous tird[sic] that clogs up the toilet,” changing the band name into anything from a nonsensical surname to an ironic pun to a crass, vulgar statement. Nevertheless, the band prefers to consider the name holistically. Parker believes it fits them well. “That’s us,” he says. “We’re earnest but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Inspired by ’80’s alternative/punk bands like The Replacements, Hüsker Dü and Wipers, Slonk Donkerson’s sound is strongly reminiscent of that era of coffee-stained wife beaters, shredded denim, and shoulder-length, unkempt hair—much like the mane Dylan sports now. On their self-titled LP, fuzzed out guitar, dark bass lines, and Dylan’s at times melancholy, at times aggressive vocals mesh into an unfamiliar, off-kilter experience. “In It 4 the Chase” evokes a dark, chaotic ambiance while “Dumb” features an uptempo beat and punchy shouts that can easily pump up a crowd. In an increasingly cluttered music scene, Slonk Donkerson hopes to distinguish itself with solid songwriting and a “strong conceptual backing” that wields this dark punk aesthetic.
-Brown Daily Herald
While Slonk Donkerson officially formed about a year ago, its roots run much deeper. Parker, the guitarist, and Dylan, the bassist and lead singer, have been jamming together “for forever,” according to Parker. Their previous musical projects leaned more toward the “folky, bearded, acoustic-guitar-strumming” side of the rock spectrum before they shaved off the facial hair and plugged in their axes. They recruited Zack, an old friend, to drum with them, and so Slonk Donkerson was born.
Parker and Dylan came up with the silly yet harmonious moniker “Slonk Donkerson” by “just sitting around giggling and making up weird titles,” according to Parker. Little did they know that “slonk” according to Urban Dictionary.com can mean either: 1) “A very annoying person”; 2) “A sudden onset of tiredness”; or 3) “An enormous tird[sic] that clogs up the toilet,” changing the band name into anything from a nonsensical surname to an ironic pun to a crass, vulgar statement. Nevertheless, the band prefers to consider the name holistically. Parker believes it fits them well. “That’s us,” he says. “We’re earnest but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
Inspired by ’80’s alternative/punk bands like The Replacements, Hüsker Dü and Wipers, Slonk Donkerson’s sound is strongly reminiscent of that era of coffee-stained wife beaters, shredded denim, and shoulder-length, unkempt hair—much like the mane Dylan sports now. On their self-titled LP, fuzzed out guitar, dark bass lines, and Dylan’s at times melancholy, at times aggressive vocals mesh into an unfamiliar, off-kilter experience. “In It 4 the Chase” evokes a dark, chaotic ambiance while “Dumb” features an uptempo beat and punchy shouts that can easily pump up a crowd. In an increasingly cluttered music scene, Slonk Donkerson hopes to distinguish itself with solid songwriting and a “strong conceptual backing” that wields this dark punk aesthetic.
-Brown Daily Herald