WAXAHATCHEE
Katie Crutchfield is a natural at writing confessional pop songs. Since picking up the guitar as a teenager she has spent the better part of her young adult life travelling the country to play basement shows for feminist punks with bands like P.S. Eliot, Bad Banana and The Ackleys, all of which she sang for. Crutchfield and her twin sister Allison started these bands in high school, inspired by touring bands that would pass through Alabama, as well as a local community-run show space called Cave 9 where they both volunteered. The sisters were best known as P.S. Eliot, a band that developed a cultish underground following until disbanding in 2011. Deciding to go it alone, Crutchfield became Waxahatchee and released her debut album American Weekend in 2012 and its lo-fi acoustic guitar-pop songs made for one of the year's best unsung records.
SWEARIN'
Swearin' co-frontperson Allison Crutchfield is only 23-years-old, but she's been in the game forever already. A truncated history: She started the Ackleys as a ninth grader in Birmingham, AL, with her twin sister, Katie; they were on Warped Tour as high school students. After that band called it quits, the sisters formed P.S. Eliot in 2008, releasing two full-lengths and an EP over the course of their three-and-a-half-year existence. The sisters relocated from Birmingham to Brooklyn in 2011, months before pulling the plug on P.S. Eliot. When the band split, Allison and Katie's musical paths diverged, too: Katie went solo under the moniker Waxahatchee; Allison put together Swearin' with Jeff Bolt (drums), Keith Spencer (bass), and P.S. Eliot bandmate Kyle Gilbride (who shares guitar and vocal duties with Crutchfield). Swearin' unveiled a 6-song demo called What A Dump last December. Earlier this year, they released their self-titled debut LP on Salinas Records. With 2012 coming to a close, it seems safe to say Swearin' will be included in the conversation of the year's best indie-rock records.
The words "indie rock" are crucial here. While the term has long since ceased to have value as a descriptor, Swearin' deliver a sound that could serve as a definition for what the genre used to be. The band's combination of melody, distortion, and energy brings to mind the emo bands of the mid to late '90s, especially the Get Up Kids, Rainer Maria, the Promise Ring, and Jawbreaker. Gilbride's vocals are a dead ringer for those of a young Mac McCaughan; Crutchfield could probably stand in for Anna Waronker on a mid-'90s That Dog LP without anyone noticing. The pair's guitars have a furious squeal that brings to mind Built To Spill or Sebadoh; their instant-classic melodies are obscured by feedback and fuzz, an ancient indie-rock trick perfected by the likes of Archers Of Loaf and Pavement. Crutchfield was born in 1989 (the year the Pixies released Doolittle), and those tendencies are in her blood: In a short documentary about the Ackleys, filmed when Allison and Katie were still in high school, both sisters namecheck Guided By Voices as their primary songwriting influence.
Joyride
"Poppy punky goodness. it oozes honest confession out of every orifice while kicking out jams harder than Green Day with 5 minutes left. a lot of these songs would fit into the pop-punk style of rock but doesn't have the silliness than can come that tag. the songs aren't too serious but they're not goofy. it's mature sounding while still sounding fresh and cathartic. the songs are fast, bouncy, and will make you feel happy/touchy/sensitive/vulnerable/confident/strong." --KYEO SPEAKS
Crabapple
crabapple is a pop band from the Bay, equal parts coffee, feelings and summer adventures. the band started to record a song for a benefit comp about cats and shares members of joyride!, sourpatch, no babies, and dear marje.
WAXAHATCHEE
Katie Crutchfield is a natural at writing confessional pop songs. Since picking up the guitar as a teenager she has spent the better part of her young adult life travelling the country to play basement shows for feminist punks with bands like P.S. Eliot, Bad Banana and The Ackleys, all of which she sang for. Crutchfield and her twin sister Allison started these bands in high school, inspired by touring bands that would pass through Alabama, as well as a local community-run show space called Cave 9 where they both volunteered. The sisters were best known as P.S. Eliot, a band that developed a cultish underground following until disbanding in 2011. Deciding to go it alone, Crutchfield became Waxahatchee and released her debut album American Weekend in 2012 and its lo-fi acoustic guitar-pop songs made for one of the year's best unsung records.
SWEARIN'
Swearin' co-frontperson Allison Crutchfield is only 23-years-old, but she's been in the game forever already. A truncated history: She started the Ackleys as a ninth grader in Birmingham, AL, with her twin sister, Katie; they were on Warped Tour as high school students. After that band called it quits, the sisters formed P.S. Eliot in 2008, releasing two full-lengths and an EP over the course of their three-and-a-half-year existence. The sisters relocated from Birmingham to Brooklyn in 2011, months before pulling the plug on P.S. Eliot. When the band split, Allison and Katie's musical paths diverged, too: Katie went solo under the moniker Waxahatchee; Allison put together Swearin' with Jeff Bolt (drums), Keith Spencer (bass), and P.S. Eliot bandmate Kyle Gilbride (who shares guitar and vocal duties with Crutchfield). Swearin' unveiled a 6-song demo called What A Dump last December. Earlier this year, they released their self-titled debut LP on Salinas Records. With 2012 coming to a close, it seems safe to say Swearin' will be included in the conversation of the year's best indie-rock records.
The words "indie rock" are crucial here. While the term has long since ceased to have value as a descriptor, Swearin' deliver a sound that could serve as a definition for what the genre used to be. The band's combination of melody, distortion, and energy brings to mind the emo bands of the mid to late '90s, especially the Get Up Kids, Rainer Maria, the Promise Ring, and Jawbreaker. Gilbride's vocals are a dead ringer for those of a young Mac McCaughan; Crutchfield could probably stand in for Anna Waronker on a mid-'90s That Dog LP without anyone noticing. The pair's guitars have a furious squeal that brings to mind Built To Spill or Sebadoh; their instant-classic melodies are obscured by feedback and fuzz, an ancient indie-rock trick perfected by the likes of Archers Of Loaf and Pavement. Crutchfield was born in 1989 (the year the Pixies released Doolittle), and those tendencies are in her blood: In a short documentary about the Ackleys, filmed when Allison and Katie were still in high school, both sisters namecheck Guided By Voices as their primary songwriting influence.
Joyride
"Poppy punky goodness. it oozes honest confession out of every orifice while kicking out jams harder than Green Day with 5 minutes left. a lot of these songs would fit into the pop-punk style of rock but doesn't have the silliness than can come that tag. the songs aren't too serious but they're not goofy. it's mature sounding while still sounding fresh and cathartic. the songs are fast, bouncy, and will make you feel happy/touchy/sensitive/vulnerable/confident/strong." --KYEO SPEAKS
Crabapple
crabapple is a pop band from the Bay, equal parts coffee, feelings and summer adventures. the band started to record a song for a benefit comp about cats and shares members of joyride!, sourpatch, no babies, and dear marje.
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