There's not too much to say to describe the Keep Aways, a trio of female Minnesotan punk rawkers. As typical as that description may seem, it's apt. It's curious to see their self-titled EP on Chairkicker Records, the label of Low guitarist Alan Sparhawk. I can't help but think of his recent decision to halt Low's current tour due to his emotional distress, and wonder about what life is like in his hometown when all the recording and touring is said and done. It's amusing to picture the long-time craftsman of tentative and intimate drone experiencing -- perhaps reveling in -- the punk experimentation of Duluth basement shows. When all is said and done, he's supporting his hometown scene, and that's rad. I only hope the masses follow Sparhawk's lead in appreciating the vibrancy and promise of such a highly-charged racket. I might have been living under a rock, but it's been years since I've heard women making the kind of caterwauling noise that can be heard on this short (under 18 minutes) and frantic record. I literally blinked on its first spin through and it was over. Fuckin punk rock! Distillers, what? Pre-nutcase Courtney Love, who? I'm obviously not informed on the current punk scene, when all I can reference is the banshee shriek of the aforementioned Ms. Love -- but what a good sound it was, once.
Further investigation leads me to the band's creation, sparked when guitarist/vocalist Mindy Johnson, bassist Nikki Moeller, and drummer Shanna Willie met on Halloween 200 (under 18 minutes) and frantic record. I literally blinked on its first spin through and it was over. Fuckin punk rock! Distillers, what? Pre-nutcase Courtney Love, who? I'm obviously not informed on the current punk scene, when all I can reference is the banshee shriek of the aforementioned Ms. Love -- but what a good sound it was, once.
Further investigation leads me to the band's creation, sparked when guitarist/vocalist Mindy Johnson, bassist Nikki Moeller, and drummer Shanna Willie met on Halloween 2001. Having little combined musical knowledge, they nevertheless felt something click and plunged into rock 'n' roll with the legendary ambition and bravado of groups like the Slits. Three months after playing together they released an EP, ...Get Held Back, and set to work on their next, a project so obsessively mastered that it took two years to complete. Alternately metal- and punk-influenced, the lyrics are often buried beneath the sonic onslaught, but it sounds like they've got the most important thing covered: Having fun.
1. File It Away
2. Bleeding Heart
3. Standards
4. Conversational Crime
5. Hey Song
6. Saturday
7. Same Difference
More about: The Keep Aways
