She Creatures Invade
Not signed on any Earth label!
The look is cool, the vibe is cool, and it's space age garage rock. That's almost enough right there to make anyone submit. Musically, The She Creatures rock like no one else! The opening "She Creatures Invade" is such a bold statement filled with super beats from Elektra Statik, interstellar Vox Continental hits, choppy chords, and the chorus "She Creatures invade! Men, can't be afraid, we'll hypnotize you, yeah, yeah, yeah!" is more than persuasive, but Nancy Raygun deals the final hypno-ray with her strong vocals that remind one of every tough female lead from Grace Slick to Debbie Harry, but with even greater power and seduction akin to Sharon Tandy's vocal on "Daughter of The Sun" that adds a hint of smoothness and range to the likes of Kate Pierson. If that's not enough, the siren's call of The She Creatures singing in unison is going to bring one to their knees on the slow tempo, Motown inspired "Hungry", which is an response equal in musical chops and garage influences to The Fleshtones "I'm Still Thirsty", complete with Princess Slayer's Vox Contintental organ sweeps.
"Radar" has has a harder, louder feel with some great guitar riffs and some handclaps that are long enough to get everyone on their feet. "Moonman" was so full of great stuff that it's hard to get one's hands around. At first, a slow, bluesy number that reminds one of "Needles and Pins", great background vocals, a little bit of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", some awfully loud guitar, the all too familiar lament of "Show me your dark side" and the idea of falling in love in a way that everything is new and full of aching desire and so much unfamiliarity. To expand, it's that feeling of infatuation with someone one's just starting to know and therefore, really does come off as someone from another planet. The closing song "Space Madness" edges towards a sleazy garage punk song complete with fuzzed out chords and a chorus that's going to get everyone screaming along, but it's another pure She Creatures anthem that points to their louder, sleazier garage punk sound with Haley Comet playing both bass and a mesmerizing theramin.
The She Creatures have their own theme that permeates these songs as well as their original '60s sci-fi interplanetary invaders inspired intro and outtro, but what one really finds is that the music is so good that it's light years beyond anything. This is Super rock from The Space Age! South by Southwest had the original intentions of giving exposure to unsigned acts. Although that message has sharply changed to having a few well known artists and a strong showing of already signed indie acts who also deserve more exposure, it's a great way to discover those who you might not hear of otherwise, so the unsigned acts that often have more talent and ability than most. This applies to The She Creatures. In fact, this is one act that one should see at least one performance of. As much as we try to remain gender neutral, The She Creatures display a feminist strength in their persuasiveness and ultimately, their music that should make both genders think twice about roles. This is strength, power, dominance, desire, common vulnerabilities that everyone can identify with, and sex appeal that not only has the potential to remind women of their own power, but to really put those in the male category a still needed step down. This is at first alien in appearance, but is also proof that these invaders studied us less evolved humans well enough to know how to take us over. Not only do these vixens from Venus have the look to make everyone submit, but their music is so powerful that it commands admiration. Prepare to submit, puny Earthlings!
SXSW Appearances
Mar 18 2009 8:00P 2.40pm Sonny’s Vintage - Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2009 8:00P 1.45pm Breakaway Records/11pm Esther’s Follies - Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 8:00P SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 8:00P 3pm Cheapo Discs - SXSW Austin, Texas
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