Cannibal Cheerleader

Here’s our second installment in our ‘Versus’ video series featuring none other than local blues-rock rebel rousers White Dress led by the inimitable Arum Rae. On Saturday Feb. 6th the crowd at Trophy’s here on South Congress in Austin, Texas was brimming with excitement – local legends like Britt Daniel of Spoon and Erika Wennerstrom of the Heartless Bastards anxiously awaited the first downbeat of the indie-up and comers White Dress whose fearsome brand of blood-in-your-spit rock and roll recalls equal parts PJ Harvey and a riot grrrl garage band.

With sexy, sultry vocals and pounding, loud-quiet-loud song structure, the band is a churning and understated as a forever burning underground gas fire – and just about as hot. Arum Rae commands attention with every slight gesture, every tilt of her guitar and snarl of her lips. With a ferocious snarl she barks and howls the lyrics and pummels her guitar with impressive flair only to return to a demure, slow burning songstress in the next beat. The understated value of White Dress is actually what can’t be overstated. The band has just enough understanding of the genre, just enough attention to detail, just enough inhibition to keep the group careening into derivativeness and instead planting them firmly on the cutting edge of punk meets blues rock and roll.

Drummer Abbey mirrors this cool collectedness, slamming down on her cymbals in one breath and effortlessly swaying her sticks to the tune of a ballad in the next. Bassist and keyboardist Chris also churns the still waters, creating a cool, dark musical surf that Rae quickly spins into whirlpools and tidal waves of fury with each breath.

Overall a fantastic show, definitely one of our favorite new bands, not only in Austin, but ever! Check out our video interview below and the band’s performance of standout track “Warranted Queen”. Get on this bandwagon before it ships out CC faithful!

White Dress – “Warranted Queen”

If you weren’t at Emo’s here in Austin, Texas last night (and believe me, not nearly enough people were) then you missed out on a proclamation on the state of punk as we know it in mindblowing form – the resurgence of Jemina Pearl, infamous for her stint as the Be Your Own Pet vocalist, as a solo artist quite possibly could reaffirm even the most cynical hardcore kid’s faith in the spirit of ‘77. Featuring John Eatherly, former Be Your Own Pet drummer now on guitar duties, the group ripped and snarled through what seemed like the entirety of the singer’s debut album Break It Up, with standouts like “I Hate People” and “Retrograde” sounding all the more pummeling and sharp in the live format. Complete with ‘fuck-all’ attitude and a cast over what one imagines is the gnarly broken toe injury the songstress featured on her blog, Jemina Pearl lives and breathes the punk rock frontwoman role, pouty lip-sneer and all. Wailing and spitting her way through track after track, hardly giving her band any room to breathe in-between songs, the singer seemed disconnected, bored, and altogether very punkish in a very genuine manner. Her attitude was reflected in the blazing guitarwork of the surprisingly articulate guitar-playing of Eatherly, whose chops behind the axe makes one imagine why he wasn’t shredding in BYOP to begin with. 

Overall the band’s performance reeked of harsh punk sensibilities in the same manner as early Buzzcocks records. With a wry sense of humor, a lack of any ability to take herself seriously, and a serious attitude problem, Jemina Pearl reinvigorated our faith in the punk lifestyle, horrifying us with her immediacy and raping our sonic senses in the best way possible.

A great big fuck you to Jemina Pearl – and we mean that in the congratulatory punk way (seriously, how can you not love her?).

The night’s other story however is the utterly shocking and rocking opening act solo artist Arum Rae of the local Austin band White Dress. The full band was on the original bill for the show but according to Rae, legal issues barred her bandmate from attending the gig. Still, the group seemed almost unnecessary upon hearing the singer’s subtle Southern croon and her understated blues finger-picking guitarwork as she belted out heartbreaker after bodyshaker on what proved to be an incredibly engaging performance. Sounding like a Black Keys meets Cat Power combo, Rae makes us want to stalk down and listen to every track she’s ever conjured – a bedroom pop sensibility strapped behind a mean, gold-faced guitar. We look forward to check her out as the year progresses.

Overall, a fantastic night here in Austin – definitely check these leading ladies out soon!

Jemina Pearl – “I Hate People”