((Joanna Gruesome)) Band Profile and Upcoming Chicago Concerts - Oh My Rockness


Written by Patrick McNamara

Joanna Gruesome. Great name. It’s playful and quirky yet comes with an edge that the kids really respond to these days. But that’s not why I’m writing about this band. Seriously. I’m writing about Joanna Gruesome because they’re good. That’s the way this works. No press release required!

Joanna Gruesome is a five-piece (“we’re people! not pieces!” says Alanna and George and Owen and Max and Dave) from Cardiff, Wales that blend a fantastic mix of Riot Grrrl punk thrash with surprisingly pretty indiepop. It’s fun because you’re totally like, “ahhhh! my ears! my precious ears!” and then all of a sudden everything changes to something sweet, and you then say, “everything is fine now. everything is chill. consider the dewy petals of a fragile flower as it sways in the breeze of a gentle spring morning.” This band goes from blitzkrieg to Buddha and back again in less than three minutes. (also, i don’t know if you have conversations out loud with yourself and how you’re feeling when listening to music but i do and please say this is a shared human experience and not just me.)

The excellent label, Slumberland, is putting out Joanna Gruesome’s full length debut, “Weird Sister,” (I have a thing or two to say on THAT subject let me tell you, bub) on September 10th, 2013 (A.D.). And you know what? Slumberland is the perfect home for this band. Because they jingle. They jangle. They shout. They shimmer. They get noisy. And they straight throw it DOWN. Joanna Gruesome. Tender Welsh destruction.

In closing, I’d like to see Joanna Gruesome tour with Sufjan Satan. That would be a really good show.

Published September 3, 2013
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