July 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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July 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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We Start Fires, bucking UK media machine, release EP 2 July 2002
Young four-piece romantic punk-poppers We Start Fires from Darlington in northern England blend the forthright sexuality/romanticism of artists like Joan Jett and Courtney Love with the lyrical twistiness and existentialism of say, Frank Black, into inspiring pop. Yesterday they self-released their debut EP, the four track How To Be A Lady. It’s out for the UK on their own Head Girl label and available worldwide by mail-order. It’s self-released for the standard reason: because the band want control over their art, but also because, so far, no label has chosen to buck the current fashion of male-fronted young alternative acts and take a chance on the likes of We Start Fires. WSF are led by 21 year old vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Becky Stefani who, along with 18 year old drummer Ashley Wade, founded WSF in February—a couple months after the break-up of Venus In Furs. The pair had launched VIF while in school at ages 17 and 14. “Venus In Furs split at the beginning of December 2001,” Stefani told Rockbites this week, “though we should have split about six months before that. It was becoming really stale and I think we all knew deep down that it was over.” In February this year, Stefani and Wade got together with bassist Ryan Boyd, 22, and keyboards player/vocalist Laura Simmons, 18, to create a more “ballsy, interesting, and experimental” band than the bubblegum VIF, says Stefani. They played their first gig in March and quickly got noticed by producer/engineer Andy Carpenter (Kenickie)—who recorded seven songs by the band in April in a community studio in Hartlepool. “It’s going really well and we’re all giddy about it!” Stefani told us. Nonetheless, We Start Fires are swimming upstream in terms of musical fashion and the profit-oriented music news media. “There’s a real lack of support for female bands over here right now which is really frustrating,” says Stefani. “Angelica, who are one of my favourite bands, have recently put an album out and they’ve had next to no press coverage.... Usually from record companies you get the standard: 'sorry, we aren’t looking for a girl band right now'. As if 'girl band' is some sort of genre!” Stefani continues, “I’m not sure where we’ll fit in to the pop world. At the moment you’re only 'hip' if you’re a boy or you’re from New York—preferably both!” We Start Fires songs are fun, romantic, erotic, and thought provoking. Here’s a snippet from the track Stunt Girl, which Stefani sings dreamily, seductively... and then with nearly orgasmic shouts: He’s the only girl I’ve ever wanted/So pretty and so cheap I take the tears out of his eyes/Cry them out of mine instead He’s a good girl/I’m a bad boy He’s a nice girl/I’m his decoy He’s my stunt girl Stafani says the new EP is transitional, “...kind of the mid-point between the end of Venus In Furs and the beginning of We Start Fires.” They have three songs from their April sessions due to come out on a mini-LP this year: When You Fall, Space Song, and Feelings Change. In late summer or early autumn they’ll head back to the studio to record a handful of new songs for that disc, likely to include In The Shade, Ruby Slippers, and Wait In Line. With a UK tour in progress including an appearance at this year’s Ladyfest London, and with the attention of the likes of Andy Carpenter, We Start Fires just might overcome their home-country media neglect. (I gotta say it: It amuses me when self-professed arbiters of cool reveal themselves equally close-minded as those to which they pretend to provide an alternative. But it makes me sad when such bullshit gets in the way of the world finding out about great new music.) Four bites out of five. Rockbites ratings 5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying. You can pick up the How To Be A Lady EP in better record shops now in the UK, or order it for 4£ postage paid from Head Girl Records, PO Box 127, Darlington, DL1 3YD, UK. | We Start Fires | | top of page | |
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