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Mirabella feature, February 1995 issue
Girl Scouts -- Two young New Yorkers are making noise with
Queenie, their new record label
Women's records don't sell, right? Oh,
sure, packaged pop divas like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston go
down easy, but females in the macho world of rock know they don't
stand a commercial chance unless they are willing to play the
pimp -- and maybe not even then. When it comes down to a bake-off
between equal talents of different genders, the boys have always
sold more cookies. But in the early nineties, some young women
began to rebel against the music industry's boys' club, and a
crop of fiercely independent girl bands like Babes in Toyland,
Hole and Bikini Kill sprang up. In the same spirit, Chin-a
Panaccione and Sivan Schlecter started a record label, Queenie,
in January 1994 to support such women.
All of Queenie's releases are accompanied
by a manifesto, a brisk reminder that women rockers don't have to
be sexpots to get play time and publicity. Queenie's bands are
allowed to choose their own cover art, titles and photos; no one
tones them down or pretties them up. The hands-off approach to
the artists, and hands-on approach to everything else -- studio
engineering, record distribution, even sales over the Internet --
is a grassroots attempt to change expectations for women on the
creative and business sides of rock.
This past fall Queenie releases its first
full-length CD, Kickstand, and plans five more later this
year, including one each by Cobalt and Coloring Book. In the
meantime they continue to scout artists to champion. Asked to
make a prediction for the future of women in the industry,
Panaccione grows pensive. "I would like to see some of the
politics leave, actually, but these issues are here -- and
because we're dealing with them now, things will be a lot more
just in the future for women." -- Jessica Lustig
Rebelle feature, premier issue, Summer
1994
Visiting a record store with Chin-a,
founder of Queenie Records, is like watching a biophysicist
discover a new strain of bacteria. "Hey, here's the first
single by Fire Party!" exclaims the 24-year-old
Korean-American. "I can't believe this!" A fanatical
record collector, Chin-a (pronounced Cheen-na) was the
music director of her college radio station before moving to New
York to take a big-record-company job. She enlisted the help of
her friend Sivan, and the two of them founded Queenie, an
independent label championing female musicians and female-fronted
bands. "We love indie rock but it's a very sexist and racist
scene," says Sivan. "By putting out awesome music and
also addressing those issues, we want to change indie rock from
within."
Excerpt from "Alternative View On
Cyberspace" in Billboard, July 16, 1994 issue
NEW YORK - Independent record labels,
already-signed and on-the-cusp bands, downtown clubs,
cutting-edge magazines, and all-around indie distributors have
staked out a new territory in the region known as cyberspace, and
zoned it strictly for alternative activity.
..."Microlabels" are another
thriving segment whose numbers include Quixotic Records -- with
acts including Halcion, Airlines, and Giant Mums -- and Queenie
Records.
"We're just now exploring the
possibilities," says Queenie's Chin-a Panaccione, co-head of
the self-described "girl-run record label dedicated to
putting out music by women." "Right now we are
basically selling our 7-inch discs online, but we hope to start
offering sounds bites, too, as well as band photos and
bios." Discs ordered online are mailed to customers.
Queenie acts include Coloring Book, Sexpod,
and Cobalt. -- Marilyn A. Gillen
CD review in CMJ weekly, December 5,
1994 issue
It's been three years since Kickstand
released its first cassette tape (On Training Wheels), but
the trio's first proper release proves worth the wait. The 14 new
songs on the charming Kickstand (which also includes the
tape, plus two extra cuts) reveal the band's more self-defined
vision and comfortable equilibrium with its minimalist pop, not
to mention a cleaner, but still lo-fi recording. An important
touchstone is the Young Marble Giants, whose song "Colossal
Youth" Kickstand carefully borrows, changing little of the
mood but adding a bridge; in fact, the Giants' (and probably Beat
Happening's) precise attention to raindrop percussion and feather
wisps of unexpectedly forceful female vocals surface prominently
here. Tammi and Torry Colichio (the latter of whom has drummed
with Flying Saucer and Fifth Column) split most of the vocals in
hushed voices, while on a couple of cuts guitarist Jeff Feuerzeig
takes over the mic in an understated Calvin Johnson-like
baritone. While the do-it-yourself-inspired melodic pop romps of
bands like the Pastels and The Clean also figure colorfully here,
Kickstand absorbs its influences with bright eyes and a clear
direction of its own, making Kickstand a breath of fresh
air. -- Lydia Anderson
CD review in Out, February 1995 issue
Kickstand's self-titled debut on the
Queenie label is classic indie music that transcends the
limitations of other "cutie pop" bands by being so damn
good. The band is fueled by the sweet sounds of Tammi Colichio
and the understated drums of her twin sister, Torry, formerly the
drummer for Fifth Column. -- Ray Rogers
CD review in Spin, February 1995 issue
This New York/New Jersey trio stars cool
twin sisters Tammi and Torry Colichio and independent filmmaker
Jeff Feuerzeig and pops along with such verve and punch you can
feel the basement floor rattle. Kickstand serves up an
hour-long shambling popfest of new and old stuff (23 songs!). Who
wouldn't did a band with the good taste to cover the Clean and
Young Marble Giants, and the good sense to jam with Jad Fair,
Kicking Giant, and a Fifth Column girl? Shake your hairdo to
"How to Make A Girl Cry." -- Gail O'Hara
CD review in Bust, Winter/Spring 1995
issue
I love Kickstand. Just imagine the Pastels
meeting Young Marble Giants and you'll end up with this trio:
Tammi and Torry Colichio thrive on deceptively lilting sing-songy
tunes with scorchingly bold girl-empowering lyrics like,
"Put away your ammunition/She's got feminine intuition"
("How to Make A Girl Cry," the new Betty Boob rally
tune). Here's an even sweeter treat: Queenie, the super-cool,
girl-indie label, has managed to package two super albums onto a
single CD, so you get two treats for the price of one! And an
appearance by Jad Fair! What more could you ask for? -- Betty
Boob
7" review in CMJ weekly, April 11,
1994 issue
The debut single from Coloring Book
positively glows with enthusiasm for pristine pop, alternately
reminiscent of the Marine Girls, early Flying Nun recordings and
stateside popsters HoneyBunch. Jen Matson's tentative vocals
filter wistfully through "Sand in My Shoes," a dreamy
seaside ballad, while "Time to Grow," sung by Coloring
Book's other full-time member, Jon Chaikin, is a breathy,
head-over-heels love song with a sunny, pitter-pattering tempo.
Two instrumentals, rife with skyward gazes, delicate guitar
pluckings and sparse rhythms, round out the single. -- Lydia
Anderson
7" review in Chickfactor, Issue #6
This is Jen (who once did the fine zine Non-Stop
Diatribe, which contained a Go-Betweens discographic
pictorial. I saw Coloring Book recently at an unpleasant NY venue
and they covered "Love Goes On") singing on "Sand
In My Shoes," which is light and pretty like Felt mixed with
the Carousel. And I adore "Walking Distance," the
instrumental which would sound appropriate on a warm sunny
morning in the Alps. (Conflict-of-interest alert: a friend of
mine played drums on 3/4 tunes.) Jon sings "Time to
Grow" smoothly -- it sounds very Go-Betweens and that's
never a bad thing. -- Gail O'Hara
7" review in CMJ New Music Guide,
May 1994 issue
Singer Jen Matson and Jon Chaikin have
distilled the hushed, airy melodic essence of bands like the
Sugargliders and the Field Mice into two gorgeously wispy songs
and two mass-without-volume instrumentals. It doesn't necessarily
grab your attention while it's playing, but as soon as it ends
you want it to come back. Coloring Book may represent the last
gasp of its particularly wimp-pop aesthetic, but its record is
one of the most beautiful artifacts that genre has produced... --
Douglas Wolk
7" review in CMJ weekly, June 13,
1994 issue
Yasmin Kuhn was the singer/guitarist who
fronted the superb New York trio Flying Saucer several years ago.
Her new band, Cobalt, has an all-star lineup on this three-song
single. Kuhn is joined by Antietam's guitarist Tara Key and
bassist Tim Harris, and by Elliot Sharp, who adds some sax
squalls to the two-chord stomp "And." The A-side
spotlights Kuhn's rich, expressive voice. She's not part of
anybody else's vocal tradition, and she can really sing --
"Sea Nine," a subdued, Flying Saucer-like track is
especially impressive. The B-side's "Maryland Car Song"
is a surging instrumental workout, with Kuhn's and Key's guitars
crashing like breakers. -- Douglas Wolk
7" review in Puncture, Issue #31,
Fall 1994
"And" has all the shivering
tension and propulsive thrill of No Wave-era Sonic Youth -- with
a beating heart as well. "Sea Nine" is slower, kin to
those perfect little melodies the Velvets could do.
Singer/guitarist Yasmin Kuhn, who used to front Flying Saucer,
delivers the former with fervor, the latter with cool aplomb, and
ropes in Tara Key for extra guitar power. Impressive. -- Steve
Connell
7" review in Alternative Press,
November 1994 issue
Hi-quality punk rock, pop ballad, and
feedback groove (in that order) from a band featuring members of
Antietam, Mercury Rev, Flying Saucer's Yasmin Kuhn and Elliot
Sharp on wackety-sax. Considering how much this new label is into
merchandising, you'd expect empty hype, but this scores better
than most full albums these days. Bulldog photo sleeve is cute,
too. Clear vinyl. -- Eric Gladstone
Home CD EP (on Go Kart
Records) review in Carbon 14,
Issue #1
Sexpod's single earlier this year on
Queenie Records was amazing, maybe my favorite this year, so I
expected this to be good. The dueling vocals of Karyn Kuhl
(guitar) and Alice Genese (bass) that highlight the 45 are
featured on Home as well. Memorable lines like "I'm
so detached, I'm levitating," make Kuhl's lyrics worth
reading since they sometimes get buried by Sexpod's monstrous
sound. Production-wise it may be slicker, but that only succeeds
in making the girls (and drummer Billy Loose) sound louder and
more powerful. The only bad part is that it's an EP, so there's
just six tracks.
Review of live show @ Brownie's May 6, 1994 in The
Splatter Effect, June 1994 issue
With greater attention being paid by record
companies and audiences to singer/songwriter/guitarists who
happen to be women, we are perhaps finally witnessing the end of
testosterone's domination of rock. Well, perhaps. In the
meantime, Sexpod is going a long way to advance not just the
visibility of females in rock bands, but the development of the
music itself.
This Hoboken trio have uncovered fresh
points of intersection between punk and funk -- between grind and
groove. Guitarist Karyn Kuhl writes about visions generated by
betrayal and disillusionment, but, in the best rock-n-roll
tradition, these thoughts of despair are welded to fractured
blues figures and surging chord work underpinned by Billy Loose's
relentlessly concise drum patterns and Alice Genese's percussive
bass slapping. Wearing a beret, black vest and an attitude of
cool detachment, Kuhl sang in a voice of unabashed emotion.
"I cry tears of joy/I cry tears that hurt," she wailed
on the thrashy "Spin My Groove," pointing out her
fascination with the tension between personal turmoil and its
public release.
Genese, in colorful striped pants and short
blond hair, bopped and nodded to her percussive bass riffs, while
providing energetic vocal accompaniment and creating a strong
focal point for many of the songs. Kuhl managed to casually toss
off scorching lead work that slithered and slammed. In songs like
"Too Much Hate," with its sudden stops and starts, and
the odd meter of "Venus, Me and You," Sexpod nicely
defied expectations of where a song might go.
Significantly, as the set progressed, more
listeners became dancers as they picked up on the unpredictable
but inherent rhythms, which were often topped off by powerful
choruses and, at times, almost folky melodies. Kuhl and Genese's
performing experience (including their stint with Gutbank) lends
this inventive group a striking presence and relaxed assurance.
-- Michael LaBash