Band-O-Rama with the Organ, the Rogers Kd Lang Sisters, Devics & the Chalets Elin Ruth Bic Runga Neko Case Terri Walker Emm Gryner Marissa Nadler Welcome To
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SPRING 2006 a women in music compendium wears the trousers the pipettes star in our massive plus... band-o-rama with the organ, the rogers kd lang sisters, devics & the chalets elin ruth bic runga neko case terri walker emm gryner marissa nadler welcome to... wears the trousers Hello again! wears the trousers Since you’ve been gone dear friends www.thetrousers.co.uk we’ve been ever so busy. Things got off to www.myspace.com/wearsthetrousers an auspicious start in January when we 17B Church Crescent were invited to take part in a new national Muswell Hill London N10 3NA digital preservation scheme in conjunction +44 (0)20 8444 1853 with The British Library and The Women’s [email protected] Library. Wears The Trousers was chosen as one of the first 150 Editor Alan Pedder sites selected to form the basis of a Women’s Issues collection. Of course we were only too happy to accept and you may have Deputy Editor Trevor Raggatt noticed the new logos on the website. Basically, what it means is that even if some horrible fate should befall the site as we know Associate Editors Clare Byrne, Stephen Collings, it, Wears The Trousers will still always be available until the end & Rod Thomas of Father Time himself, or something like that anyway. Wears The Trousers is a completely Fear not, however, our heads didn’t swell enough to stop us free, not-for-profit, blood, sweat and from bringing you what is undoubtedly our best issue yet. You tears included resource for all that is new, essential and downright exciting about the want indie icons? We give you Neko Case. You want the latest, contribution of women worldwide to the music industry. All written content is greatest bands? We bring you five of ‘em. You want inspirational copyright of the credited author. Picture women? Read our interviews with Bic Runga, Emm Gryner and credits are given where known. If we have used one of your photos without crediting Terri Walker. There’s almost too much to mention so here’s my you, please inform the editor via [email protected] personal highlights of the last three months: (1) bonding with Bic over a mutual love of Border Collies; (2) the Neko Case Contributors: Aaron Alper, Russell Barker, Ian Buchan, cheese incident (see pages 22/23) and just generally loving her; Laura-May Coope, Tiffany Daniels, Robbie (3) Eliza’s gorgeous Neko artwork; (4) managing to make it de Santos, Alex Doax, James Gurney, Matthew Hall, Kevin Hewick, Lisa Komorowska, Anja through The Organ interview without mentioning either the McCloskey, Peter Morrow, Loria Near, Julia Paynter, Alex Ramon, Lynn Roberts, M word (Morrissey) or the S word (Smiths); (5) actually, just Joan Shirro, Adam Smith, Marc Soucy, Danny making it through The Organ interview at all was quite an Weddup, Paul Woodgate & Bryn Williams achievement, as you’ll see for yourselves on page 10... Design and Typesetting: Best of all though has been the continuous and always Alan Pedder appreciated support we’ve received from all over the world, Illustrations: not to mention all our new volunteers who’ve offered their Eliza Lazy, Trevor Raggatt much-valued help. You might notice this issue is quite a bit Special thanks to: Joni Anderson, Laura Anderson, Brianna Lane, chunkier than before! Next issue: July. Andrzej Lukowski, Kat Parsons &Victoria Vox Happy Easter! wears the trousers is proud to be involved in the digital preservation work of the UK Web Archiving Consortium in association with The British Library & The Women’s Library ALAN PEDDER, Editor [email protected] 2 CONTENTS SPRING 2006 08 04 The Chalets Six bottles of beer and a packet of crisps 06 The Rogers Sisters Electrocution, skinheads and petty theft 08 Dévics Pan-continental perfection 10 The Organ [A] hanging on the telephone 14 The Pipettes Nice planet, we’ll take it! 17 Lost In MySpace ...the search for sounds.... 14 38 A Buyer’s Guide to kd lang 20 Neko Case From cowpunk to covers queen To the vixen go the spoils 41 Reviews / New Albums 25 Elin Ruth Neko Case, The Dresden Dolls, Stalking Bob Dylan Regina Spektor & many more 26 Bic Runga 68 Reviews / Reissues The birds and the pees Sonic Youth, Jane Siberry & more 30 Marissa Nadler 72 Reviews / Imports “Wonderwoman was hot!” Emm Gryner, Hannah Fury & more 33 Emm Gryner 76 Reviews / DVD “I love being in a band!” Tori Amos, Walk The Line 34 Terri Walker 78 Reviews / Live Grit and class not tits and ass Laura Veirs, The Go! Team, Beth Orton & more 04 3 THE CHALETS happy campers The Chalets are a sassy Dublin five-piece whose sparky, original tunes have been setting indie club dancefloors on fire all over Britain and the Emerald Isle for the last twelve months or so, and they are now setting their sights on bringing continental Europe under their spell. Their debut albumCheck In, loosely conceptualised around 1950s glamorous air travel (think the Mile High Club and you’re on the right track), won them a nomination at the prestigious Meteor Awards, the annual Irish music industry do. They were also recently invited to play a free gig in Trafalgar Square as part of the Mayor’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities, where they really got the party started. Their sound is, in part, heavily reliant on Sixties girl group influences with all the call and response vocals and handclaps that entails, but also manages to sound cuttingly contemporary with their mix of electronic undertones, spiky guitars and angular riffs. Their stage show further reveals their endearing and humorous personalities, as frontwomen Pony and PeePee (real names Caoimhe and Paula) impress with swaying arms, yet more handclaps and exagger- ated pouting expressions, all clad in vintage attire so fine that fellow thrift-store junkies go green-eyed and water profusely at the mouth. Oh, and there’s the slight matter of lots of filthy language! You see, nothing is half-baked with The Chalets, as Robbie de Santos discovered in a backstage chat with Paula at the Magnet Club in Berlin; they relish their touring commitments, give 110% every night, and you most certainly won’t hear them complaining about the drags of showbiz. There’s no other business quite like it after all... There seems to be a renaissance of Sixties I think there are some really good female front- Europe they don’t care, it’s a lot more fun girl group pop in indie music at the moment ed indie-bands at the moment. Do you think to play here. There’s so much energy! with bands like you, The Pipettes, The Long they are showing the male-dominated NME Blondes and The Raveonettes. Do you see indie crowd that women are equal to men? The UK is really quite spoilt as far as live yourself as part of a movement? I’d like to think that’s a possibility, but I music goes. Do you think your sound would You know I don’t think we would see our- think, you know, what really sells in that have evolved differently if you had made selves as part of that scene, I mean myself whole “indie scene” is boys with nice your album in London and had the ‘London and Caoimhe are definitely influenced haircuts and tight trousers and leather band’ tag to your name? by Sixties girl groups, that’s what we lis- jackets. It’s always going to be popular. Definitely. In Dublin there are no bands ten to most. But The Pipettes are purely I mean, I’ve read “this year’s going to that sound like us at all. We stick out like a retro and I don’t think we’re purely retro, be the year for girl-fronted bands”, but sore thumb. It’s all singer songwriters… and I don’t think The Long Blondes are it never seems to happen. I don’t know either. I really like The Pipettes, I haven’t — I’d very much like that to happen, but And boybands! You don’t have any brothers seen them live, but I’ve heard a couple of we’ll see. in boybands, do you? their singles and I really, really like them. Right, and boybands. But no, we don’t I’ve seen the Long Blondes live a couple of Your name was inspired by a crazy week- have any brothers in boybands <laughs>... times. I think everyone says that they’re end at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival. If there’s really nobody making music quite like The Shangri-Las, but I don’t see that. you were curating your own weekend, what like ours in Dublin, but I like that. We played with them twice – the second bands would you like to have? time we saw them the background vocals I’d like to have The Shangri-Las, Le Tigre, You have certainly got a niche. Now, I no- were a bit low, so whatever harmonies Madonna… Madonna in the Eighties, not tice Dylan seems to get badly treated in the were going on you couldn’t hear them, just her now, Daft Punk, Weezer, Art Brut band. Do you think he’s going to pull a Robbie Kate’s vocals, so I didn’t really get a Shan- <laughs>... The Cribs! Williams on you? gri-Las vibe then, but I really like them. <laughs> He’s the drummer, he’s ginger! Sound likes a great weekend. I’m sold! Of course we pick on him.