Forget that one of them is a man — Rebecca Bortman, Michael Cobra, and Jess Gowrie are simmering in the riot grrrl attitude. Their warm, jagged, and sexy punch of punk rolled through Happy Fangs’ 2013 EP, and this year, the San Francisco-based trio hope to deliver again. Happy Fangs is set to release their first full-length debut album Capricorn on January 27th, which judging by the early released tracks, is full of the same raw Bikini Kill-esque grit. Happy Fangs explains, “We made this album by continuously saying: Put more of yourself into your music. Make the music only you can make. We did not hesitate to let everything crash together.” Want to know what Happy Fangs jams in the tour van? Here’s your own crash course.
Blood Red Shoes, Self titled
Blood Red Shoes makes the most amazing, raw, harmonic & visceral music. Their latest album makes me feel like a jungle beast and all I want to be doing is matching their beats with my movements. Their first album, Box of Secrets, inspired Mr. Cobra & me to make music together and then they came to town and let Happy Fangs open for them in our very first stage performance ever. They hold a special spot in my beastly, bloody heart.
Listen to: “An Animal”
Lowell, We Loved Her Dearly
Lowell is provocative, sweet, empowered, & delicate. In her debut album, she fears no rhinestone, no xylophone, no Photoshop filter as she peels away her pop anthems. As a singer & lyricist, I love her ballsyness. Or should I say in the words of Dan Savage, her ovaryness? Or use the words of Ms. Benatar, she’s a real tuff cookie! Until we get to play a show with her, I will be a fan. After that, hoping to be a friend!
Listen to: “88”
High on Fire, Death Is This Communion
One person in Happy Fangs, we won’t say who, listened to a lot of Soundgarden, Pepper Keenan-era Corrosion of Conformity, and Oakland’s High on Fire while we were writing and recording our album. High on Fire’s Motorhead meets Black Sabbath sound helped us remember to focus on the almighty riff. They also reminded us that heaviness can come in many forms, especially on this album that includes a wide variety of their sound.
Listen to: “Rumors of War”
Sky Ferreira, Night Time, My Time
Sky Ferreira’s music is surprisingly dark but still has the hooks, melodies and groove to be radio friendly. Ignoring all the blogosphere tabloid stories about her you can still tell there’s something darker under the surface of her and her music. The whole album is great but the single “You’re Not The One” is an incredible earworm.
Listen to: “You’re Not The One”
The Wytches, Annabel Dream Reader
We had the chance to see and hang out with these guys while we were all playing CMJ in NYC last October. Their first full length, Annabel Dream Reader, has a great raw spooky sound that sounds like a mixture between Mudhoney, The Ventures and a bit of the first Horrors album.
Listen to: “Digsaw”
