The Girls are a new wave/

punk pop Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

band from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

that formed in the early 2000s. As of 2012, their members are lead vocalist/frontman Shannon Brown, guitarists Zache Davis and Vas Kumar, bassist Colin Griffiths, keyboardist Derek Mason, and drummer Elie Goral. Their sound has been compared to that of multiple '70's bands, including

the Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), ...

and

the Voidoids Richard Hell and the Voidoids were an American punk rock band, formed in New York City in 1976 and fronted by Richard Hell, a former member of the Neon Boys, Television and the Heartbreakers. History Kentucky-born Richard Meyers moved to New ...

History

The Girls released their self-titled debut album in 2004 on

Dirtnap Records Dirtnap Records is an independent record label specializing in punk rock. It was founded by Ken Cheppaikode while he was living in Seattle, Washington, in 1999. He bought Green Noise record store in Portland, Oregon, in 2005 and then ran the lab ...

; soon afterward, the band fell apart, and every member left except Brown. In 2006, the band returned with Brown and an otherwise new lineup, and their second album, the

Martin Feveyear Martin John Feveyear born late '66 is a British record producer and audio engineer based in Seattle, Washington. Beginning as a singer-songwriter and musician, Feveyear soon began recording work for artists in both the UK and US before moving to ...

-engineered ''Yes No Yes No Yes No'', was released on Dirtnap Records in 2008. To promote the album, they performed at that year's

Bumbershoot Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend (leading up to and including the first Monday of September) at the ...

on August 30.

Name

Despite their name, the Girls' members are all men, which has led to some guests to their shows being surprised that they are not an

all-female band An all-female band is a musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed. While ...

. Of these guests, Brown has said, "Dudes like that come out of the woodwork for that all-girl shit."

Critical reception

Brian Howe of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

gave the Girls' self-titled debut album a 7.0 out of 10 rating. In his review, he wrote that the album was "no fishnet-hawking electroclash fashionista rock; besides having more sexxx appeal than both Coreys combined, The Girls've got chops like

Ralph Macchio Ralph George Macchio Jr. ( ; born November 4, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Daniel LaRusso in three ''Karate Kid'' films and in ''Cobra Kai'', a sequel television series. He also played Johnny Cade in '' The Outsiders' ...

." OverDefined, writing for Punknews.org, gave ''Yes No Yes No Yes No'' a highly negative review, writing that the band "just sound like stylistic posturing and it does nothing for me" and giving the album 1 star out of 5.

Discography

*''The Girls'' (Dirtnap, 2004) *''Yes No Yes No Yes No'' (Dirtnap, 2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Girls (Seattle band) Musical groups from Seattle Pop punk groups from Washington (state) American glam rock musical groups Musical groups established in the 2000s Dirtnap Records artists American new wave musical groups