pettybone: from desperate times comes radical minds

Pettybone are Czech guitarist Ivona Behalova, German singer Amy Bajeski, London bassist Lianna Lee Davies and Zel Kaute, Cornish drummer and one of Terrorizer’s Top 50 rock stars of 2011. The four women met through the London punk scene, coalescing in early 2010 at a squat in North London before naming themselves after Black Flag member and artist Raymond Pettibon. The three tracks featured on their early self-titled EP – ‘Pettybone’, ‘Le Regard’ and ‘Breaking Away’ – all turn up on this ferociously agile debut full-length, a heavy ride full of snarling, juggernaut thrash that takes in swoops of DC punk, ’80s and ’90s hardcore, riot grrrl and a touch of blues.

Pettybone have a decidedly feminist stance, dubbing themselves the “sound of the revolt” and loading their songs with hostile, confrontational narratives. Bajeski drives these songs with the kind of brutal vocals that made early Brody Dalle and F Minus’s Erica Daking such compelling leads, and though they’re expert at adrenalised, pit-rousing numbers, songs like ‘Northern Line’, which shifts between hostile lunges of noise and the doomy cast of Kat Bjelland at her most subdued, reveal a talent for volume dynamics and gritty songcraft. Their cover of The Clash’s ‘Justice Tonight’ is also pretty mean, all bared teeth and larynx-grating yells. A gutsy, clever debut from a promising outfit.

[Damage Done; September 14, 2011]

Written by: Charlotte Richardson Andrews

Tags: From Desperate Times Comes Radical Minds, pettybone

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011 at 2:03 pm and is filed under albums & EPs, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.