Miss Eaves, TV Face, Feral Five, I, Doris, The Noise and the Naive, BbyMutha, The Shangri-Las, Rico Nasty, Argonaut, Billie Eilish, Janelle Monae, Kero Kero Bonito, GUTTFULL, Leikeli47, Le Tigre, Sisteray, Lizzo, Miss Red, Chaka Khan, SAULT, Ibibio Sound Machine, ILL, Party Fears, Sink Ya Teeth, Christine and the Queens, Neneh Cherry, Pom Poko, The Breeders, The Lovely Eggs, Velodrome, Pip Blom, GGAllan Partridge, Cid Rim, Tacocat, Mo-Dettes, X-ray Spex, The Slits, Missy Elliott, M.I.A., Ana Tijoux
Massive thanks to Abby/Doris Werth for the particularly choice selections ❤
Effy Mitchell has just launched ‘Double Dare Ya’ on the world – the results of a documentary project interviewing bands and organisations that make up the UK’s current feminist punk/riot grrrl scene in 2019. It’s a brilliant piece of herstory capturing our scene right now.
LOUD WOMEN’s Cassie Fox was included (with a very sore throat at the time so she’s by far the most quiet woman in this!)
Interviewed bands / organisations : Peach Club Cheerbleederz Fresh Punks Dream Nails Penance stare Witching waves Cult Dreams Lunar Sounds Fig by four ZALU Babe Punch Farting suffragettes Suffrajitsu Noise and the naive Loud Women (Cassie Fox) Sounds for the cause ( Rynn ) Bomb the twist records ( Sarah ) Girls rock Edinburgh ( Caro and Fiona )
Featured bands + organisations + other contributors: Maid of ace Against me! Pussy liquor GLOSS FISTY MUFFS I, Doris Guttfull Petrol Girls Wet Brain Hooligans
Girl gang Leeds
Women in music Nottingham
Cramond island of punk
FYWROK festival
We fell head over heels in love with French Newcastle duo The Noise and the Naive when they first played a LOUD WOMEN gig in Autumn 2017, so we’re dead chuffed they’re playing for us again this week on Wednesday 24 April at the Hope & Anchor. To get to know this awesome twosome a bit better, we asked them 10 questions …
Who would you most like to cover one of your songs?
The
Red Army Choir would be interesting
2. If you could add one member to your band – any person, living or dead, musical or otherwise – who would it be, and what would they play?
It would be a Kukeri – a creature covered in wild goat hair who scares away evil spirits in Bulgarian pagan rituals. They would play the Bass with their paws. If only it was true, it would be awesome.
3. What was the last song you wrote, where were you when you came up with the idea, what inspired it, and how did it turn out?
I just wrote a song with a f*cked-up time signature because it
was funny with the title of the song “My Feelings Are Complicated”. I played it
to Anne, she hated it, the song is dead. It would have made us so famous.
4. Which was your favourite gig you’ve a) played and b) watched?
We played last week an acoustic showcase for Record Store Day, and it was so interesting to have to re-think our music with no drums / fuzz / screams.
It
was a short set.
5. Recommend a record that you think our readers might not have heard of.
If you have not listened yet to “A Simple Guide to Small and Medium Pond Life” from the band Pet Crow, it will make you ecstatically dance. It’s groovy garage/punk, with a singular nostalgic voice floating like a sonic drone. It makes me feel smart and sexy, and nobody will ever break my heart.
6. What’s your best piece of advice for young musicians?
Follow
our path, wait till you’re in your 40s
7. Your top 3 most beloved albums ever – go. We listen exclusively to bands whose name start with a P
Pixies – Surfer Rosa
PJ Harvey – Dry
Pavement – Slanted & Enchanted
8. What are your musical goals? We’re simply trying to be good and enjoy everything we do with the band, else why bother?
9. What’s the most important thing we need to know about your band right now?
We hand screenprint all our merch, including boxers and briefs : “Keep your old chaps snug with The Noise & The Naive”.
Today’s video of the day is The Noise and the Naive’s ‘10,000 Men’ and it’s a beautifully brutal and powerful piece of art punk – warming us up nicely for their headline LOUD WOMEN show next week, 24 April at the Hope & Anchor, along with fellow Newcastle punx GGAllan Partridge, and She17 darlings Ich Bin Finn.
The single is taken from the duo’s EP ‘Inside Me Ten Thousand Curs’, out not on Bandcamp. They say:
“this song is about a giant devouring 10,000 men. Not that she’s bad or anything.”
Catch The Noise and the Naive live: 19.04.19 DERBY Dubrek Studios 20.04.19 EDINBURGH Wee Red Bar 24.04.19 LONDON Hope & Anchor 28.04.19 NEWCASTLE Tyne Bar 03.05.19 LANCASTER Yorkshire House 05.05.19 NEWCASTLE Hit The North (venue TBC) 25.05.19 NEWCASTLE This Is Tomorrow (Exhibition Park)
Glorious franco-geordie duo The Noise and the Naive provide our video of the day today – Seek Solace – the first single to be released from their newly-announced EP, ‘Inside Me Ten Thousand Men Ten Filthy Curs’.
Drumming vocalist Anne says of the beautifully stripped back song:
“it’s bare and crepuscular and marks a departure from our usual sound. I wrote this song after my brother chose to end his life. I used to think that every pain should heal. I don’t believe this anymore and I accept it.”
The pair tour the UK in May, and we are thrilled to bits to be hosting their London date. Here’s the full list:
29.03.19 NEWCASTLE Cobalt Studios (EP release party) 19.04.19 DERBY Dubrek Studios 24.04.19 LONDON Hope & Anchor 28.04.19 NEWCASTLE Tyne Bar 03.05.19 LANCASTER Yorkshire House 05.05.19 NEWCASTLE Hit The North (venue TBC) 25.05.19 NEWCASTLE This Is Tomorrow (Exhibition Park)
There’s some truly famazing music happening in Scotland’s thriving DIY scene right now, and for some reason female duos seem to be doing it best North of the border!
Ditching the role of bassist – or replacing the drummer with a machine – can sometimes mean a loss of groove, volume, or stage presence … but it needn’t be so. Duos have to work a hell of a lot harder, granted, and there’s no room for error on stage. But really skillfull musicians – which Scotland seems to be teeming with right now – know that two heads can be much better than four.
There’s lots to be said for being in bands who eschew the standard four- or five-member format. Rocking up to a gig, just you and your best girl, is top, easy-maintenance fun – fewer diaries to co-ordinate, fewer egos to navigate, less equipment to fit in the boot, and fewer way to split the venue’s beer tokens. All this makes for a happy band – and, of course, happy bands make awesome music!
Here’s some Scottish twosomes that LOUD WOMEN loves big time, in particular order:
Bratakus
Bratakus are two sisters, Breagha and Onnagh Cuinn, from the Northestmost North of Scotland, making some of the most exciting new punk music we’ve heard in years! They play guitar and bass, accompanied by a drum machine. The pair travelled down to play for us at the Hope and Anchor, back in 2016, and we fell head over heels for them. Bratakus also contributed to our first compilation album LOUD WOMEN: Volume One. We want to see lots more Bratakus in 2018 please thank you. Find them on Facebook and YouTube.
The Twistettes
The Twistettes were an absolute highlight of this year’s LOUD WOMEN Fest at DIY Space for London. The pair are also sisters, Jo and Nicky D’Arc from Glasgow, who play drums and bass – ditching the role of guitarist, which is highly controversial for a punk band! The combination works perfectly though, and the pair are enjoying international success – recently touring South Korea. Find them on Facebook and Bandcamp.
deux furieuses
deux furieuses are now based in London, but friends Ros and Vas are originally from Glasgow, and their celtic passion is very evident in their stunning rock music. They play guitar (Ros) and drums (Vas), with Ros singing nearly as much as Vas, while playing, like, a million drums like a thunderstorm. Find them on Facebook and their website.
Double Pussy Clit Fuck
Just, wow. Glasgow’s Rosana Cade and Eilidh MacAskill are “Your favourite queer performance art riot-grrrl-on-grrrl-on-boi-on-boi-band; bringing you anti-genre mega noise by big dykes on tiny instruments”. Who even knows. Find them on Facebook.
The Noise and the Naive
Yeah yeah, they’re from Newcastle and that’s not in Scotland, but fuck it – this pair are awesome and we loved hosting them at The Unicorn this autumn! Pauline and Anne are a French couple, and they play guitar (Pauline) and drums (Anne), with both singing. Their self-titled debut EP is beautiful – it enjoys regular play at LOUD WOMEN HQ! Find them on Facebook and Bandcamp.
Saturday afternoon we headed to The Lexington for an all-ages matinee, which went down a treat with a massive crowd of parents and kids! Huge thanks to Argonaut, Thee Dinnerladies, Militant Girlfriend and Rabies Babiesfor coming and playing such fun sets! It was just gorgeous to see tiny kids dancing about with their arms in the air, loving the music, and climbing up on stage to have a bash on the drums and a shout down the mic – some future punkrock stars in the making there I’m sure. Special thanks to Kate Whaite for being Great and keeping the kids entertained with stories and games between bands – she made lots of new fans, small and big 🙂
We’ve got more, very exciting gigs coming up this Autumn, starting with our 2nd Birthday Party! On 13th October we’ll be celebrating at the Fiddler’s Elbow – Camden, with 4 of our favourite bands – Foxcunt, GUTTFULL, MX Tyrants and Layzervag. There’s going to be partybags full of records and goodies, yummy cake, and LOUD WOMEN karaoke … your chance to take to the stage! https://www.facebook.com/events/154554368414307/
Keep in touch for news of more LOUD WOMEN events and good stuff …
The Noise & the Naive are a brand new “power pop duo” from Newcastle, joining us on 29 September at The Unicorn in Camden. We’re really excited about getting to know Anne and Pauline better, so we sent them 10 questions!
1. Who would you most like to cover your songs?
Anne & Pauline: Duchess Says
2. Choose: Cat or dog?
Anne & Pauline: cats are baddest
3. Choose one of your songs to be played on Strictly Come Dancing. What dance would you like to be performed to it?
Anne & Pauline: Glitter Green: a muscle show // Vintage Mechanical: a waltz that would go wrong
4. Choose: Pixies or Breeders?
Anne & Pauline:The Breeders, because of Kelley Deal’s outfit in Safari.
5. Recommend a book that you think our readers might not have heard of
Pauline: Hyperbole and a Half, a graphic novel that manages to make depression funny.
6. Bikini Kill or Fugazi?
Anne: Bikini Kill, one of the best band names ever. Also realising with this question that I should listen to Fugazi more!
7. What’s the most difficult thing about being in your band?
Pauline: settling who’s the Noise and who’s the Naive
8. What are your band goals?
Anne: to be like Shonen Knife – keep playing music until we’re 82!
9. What’s the most important thing we need to know about your band right now?
Anne: I am the Noise
10. Give your top 5 contemporary bands
– Melt Banana – they come from the future
– Deap Vally – loving how their sound fills the space
– Otobokebeaver – because of this:
– Grand Blanc – a cold and dark look back at the French eighties
– Angel Olsen – a music you can listen to with your mum
Bratakus
The Twistettes
deux furieuses
Double Pussy Clit Fuck
The Noise and the Naive
Then we kicked it off at a new-to-us venue, 
down a treat with a massive crowd of parents and kids! Huge thanks to 
