The Negative Nancys rose from the ashes of one of my favorite Local bands The Seriouslys, retaining Kate's vocal stylings and assembling a new gathering of grrrls to back her up musically, and I gotta say that this collection of tunes is pretty good stuff. Yeah, I was surprised, so what? LOL

The Negative Nancys play some catchy, hooky, diversified music that's interesting without being pompous and boring. It's head bobbing, toe tapping tuneage. I'm a fan of Kate's vocals, and she sounds great on here, going from cute and coy one minute to surly and seductive the next, and the guitar work on these songs can go from surfy to sludgy to sci-fi at the drop of a hat, and the rhythm section is very 60's Yardbirds-ish, but it works, because the energy level on a lot of these songs is pretty high and hard rocking. Lots of sing-song shouted out vocals with attitude ala The Runaways and the catchy, melodious tunes is what makes this album as good as it is. For the obvious fans of Bikini Kill, The Paper Tulips, Red Aunts, etc. Standout songs include the title track Sorry Not Sorry, which has been stuck in my head for weeks now, Headsick, with that killer Dick Dale inspired guitar hook, Minority Report, with that hypnotic 'in my heart / in my head' refrain,  I Wish Godzilla Was Real (who doesn't, right?), and Vegan Strip Club Riot, which I liked just for the colorful title alone... ha ha ha

The Negative Nancys put out a great debut album for Squid Hat Records, one of the few things released by that label that I enjoy, and if you're a fan of well crafted Punk Rock tunes with a rowdy, kick ass feminine touch to them, then you should definitely check out The Negative Nancys. There's some good stuff on this album, and I'm looking forward to hearing more from this band in the not so near future. Check 'em out!!

Available from Squid Hat Records on beautiful colored vinyl by clicking here. I got a killer aqua blue colored vinyl, sort of like the color on the cover of the album. :) The vinyl comes with a download card. It's also available on CD from the label by clicking here. It's also available digitally via the Squid Hat Records Bandcamp page, which you can find by clicking here. "Like" The Negative Nancys on Facebook by clicking here.

Sometimes a band comes along, that is so the antithesis of everything else that's going on musically, that you can't help but like them. It's like cheering for the underdog in the movies, the one who doesn't stand a chance, cheering them on because of their spirit, their gumption, their will to succeed or even just to get their music out there, regardless of whether anyone likes it or not. Doing it for the Love of doing it. Doing it because something inside you makes you do it. You do it because you're compelled. ;) Yeah, the Pet Tigers have always struck me as THAT type of band. They play this heavily Pop influenced keyboard driven music that's both powerfully positive and strikingly danceable at the same time, highly infectious and catchy and very memorable. This latest release from the Pet Tigers, called Short Leash, is all that and more. It's a self released recording, put out on the bands own Sphynx And Minx Records, and it's easily one of the best releases of the year by far.

Starting off as some sort of Blondie inspired No Wave New York type of Art Punk band, the Pet Tigers have evolved (for the better) into a fantastic 80's style Pop music song making machine, cranking out tunes full of minimalist, atmospheric keyboard sounds and catchy as fuck beats and hooks galore. It's like The Cars find Berlin and Missing Persons having an orgy in a dirty alley somewhere in Chicago and joins in to make things interesting. 100% pure synthpop sexiness. Singer / keytarist Lizzy Minx purrs and growls and shrieks and screams all sexy like while providing all the noises you hear on this album, and Drummer Jeremy punches it all up with hard hitting drum lines that hearken back to the likes of Hugo Burnham of Gang Of Four. There's so much sugary sweet goodness on here that you'll probably get diabetes just from listening to it. Songs like You're My Favorite Flavor, Come On Over, Later, and Go Go Girl are danceable ragers, and songs like Sorry, Not Sorry, Lipstick Lust, Boyz, Revolving Doors, are angry, dreary, heartfelt and passionate, reminiscent of The Cure or Pet Shop Boys in certain parts. Lizzy's lyrics seem very personal, full of heartbreak and longing, and just a smidgen of sexy risqueness. I'd love to pick her brain one day... about her lyrics, and find out the background of a lot of these songs. I bet there's some great stories behind all of them. Man, there's so much going on with this band Pet Tigers and I personally can't get enough of them or this album. How they are not the next band destined to break big out of this stinky, dusty town is mind blowing to me, because the depth, the layers, the talent on display here with this release is shocking. Do yourself a huge favor and go to www.pettigers.net and get yourself caught up on what you're missing out on, and that's one of the better bands to ever grace the stages here locally in Las Vegas. Check out Pet Tigers and get this release as fast as you can. It's seriously a great fucking record.

Available from the band at every gig they play. Also available from the bands website www.pettigers.net. It's also available digitally via iTunes (click here), Amazon (click here), Bandcamp (click here) and everywhere else music is bartered and sold at nowadays. Become 'Friends' and 'Like' the Pet Tigers on Facebook by clicking here.