Live Review: The Ettes @ Subterranean 10/03/06

After great sets by The Village Green and The Purrs, The Ettes, a young 3-piece from LA took the stage, to deliver one of the best sets of the night and restoring my faith that there is still some life left in 60's garage rock. The Ettes used to be all girl band, but now with a male bass player, maybe comparisons to The Donnas will end. The Ettes far surpass those Donnas in style and in sound. Built on a strong foundation of 60's garage rock, London beat, and classic American Punk, The Ettes aren't messing around when it comes to playing and creating music.

Lead singer/guitarist Coco, decked out in go-go boots and 60's frock, channels a hybrid of Nancy Sinatra and Holly GoLightly on her succulent vocals and Karen O. screams, bass player Jem layers on some slick basslines, and drummer Poni is out of this world. At first, I was like "oh, female drummer, that's cool", but then she started playing and I was blown away, it wasn't cutesy the way Meg White can sometime seem. Poni is seriously a damn good drummer, which really vitalizes The Ettes teeming sound. Their highly infectious set was loaded with a bunch of gems off their recent LP Shake The Dust, which was released on Sympathy For The Record Industry and was recorded & produced by Liam Watson (The Kills, The White Stripes), which is truly great album. Fans of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's and Thee Headcoatees, will definitely find something to love on Shake The Dust. I stood there mesmerized by The Ettes set, some highlights include two extremely well done covers of The Guess Who's "It's My Pride" and Reigning Sound's "We Repel Each Other" (anyone who can play a solid Greg Cartwright tune is a winner in my book). As far their original songs, "Dead & Gone", is pounding hurdy gurdy of a track that will get you screaming "yeah, yeah, yeah!" and "No More Surprises" is a no-nonsense, straight-ahead punk rock song that would make Billy B. Childish take notice. All around solid set from a band to keep an eye on and a ear to. I definitely recommended picking up Shake The Dust, you can preview more tracks on their Myspace.



Setlist:
Reputation
It Ain't You
Alley Cat
Spend My Money
It's My Pride (The Guess Who Cover)
Dead & Gone
Ghosts
Beggars
No More Surprises
We Repel Each Other (Reigning Sound Cover)

Download: The Ettes - "No More Surprises" - (MP3)