Right now there are some kickin’ female bands. Going through my many submissions, I try to mix it up when I choose songs. Lately, I am drawn to the diversity of these three bands, their styles, sounds, and absorbing lyrics. Listen to each independently, simply because they are very different. I am happy to report each have new albums and lots of material to dig into if you find them as intriguing as me. Listen…
Amy O-Sunday Meal
A native of Bloomington Indiana, Amy Oelsner ( Amy O ) began as a solo project back in 2004. Now, she includes her friends, Madeline Robinson-bass/vocals, Justin Vollmar-drums, Damion Schiralli-guitar, and Aaron Denton-keys/vocals. “Sunday Meal” is her latest release from the upcoming album, Elastic on Winspear, coming out August 4. “Sunday Meal” is a gem of a song with deliberate lyrics conjuring up many ideas of home, through the lens of losing her Grandmother. It has a surprising divergent pace which is totally engaging and gives it an endearing quirky nuance. For only a 2 minute and 19 second song, she packs in a heap of ideas and nostalgic memories.
Amy wrote about the song,
“I wrote this upon returning home after spending a week in Connecticut watching my Grandma die in the summer of 2016. She was a sailor all her life, which inspired the line ‘She is calling me, come on home, steer the wheel along.’ The whole experience made me think of home and all the forms it can take. The life I am building for myself is home, my childhood and the shared history I have with my family is home, my body is my home and I’m actually just a visitor here.”
Land of Talk-This Time
I am a bit obsessed with the band, Land of Talk. Elizabeth Powell is from Montreal and has created new music with her album, Life After Youth. It has been seven long years due to a series of unavoidable road blocks. But in my mind, the time was well spent because I find the album restorative and soothing. There is something incredible about the cohesiveness of the instruments in combination with her lovely voice of strength and optimism. “This Time” seems almost like an experience of deep emotional growth. Perhaps, lessons learned and decisions to be made. I find the lyrics relatable with a meditational, healing quality about it. A simple drum beat and bass build the foundation, but listening deeper, there is a squiggly almost off balance synth that threads throughout the song, giving it a mysterious quality, one I never seem to tire of…
Chastity Belt-Different Now
The simple guitar strums are so pure and carefully laid out in the song, “Different Now”. It seems to build a certain anticipation. After the music is established the lead singer, Julia Shapiro, comes in with her distinctive vocals and adds a stunning, contrasting balance with the toe tapping, slightly moody tune. Her bandmates are, Lydia Lund (guitar), Annie Truscott (bass), and Gretchen Grimm (drums). Started in Walla Walla Washington, Chastity Belt now reside in Seattle. Known for interjecting screaming guitars and slightly vulgar antics, they have created another winner with, I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone. The album is a rather serious one based on sincerity and the friendship they have experienced together. Hold on! They are playing in Atlanta, on June 27 at The Masquerade. If you are around town, don’t miss it. If not, they are touring the US through August.
