Posts By Sophie Benjamin

The Ovaries – ‘Devil’s Snare’ (video)

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I have mixed feelings about this band.

On one hand, I really like this video. On the other hand, their Q & As with their fan base (who are either young goth dudes who want to bang them, young goth queer girls who want to bang them, old dudes who want to bang them and a smattering of idiots just to make things interesting) are fucking cringe-worthy. They actually used to have a lot more Q & As on their Youtube, but they’ve disappeared, thank God.

I suppose they’re basically Short Stack, but with real vaginas instead of the implied ones that Shaun, Andy & Brady have.

And that’s the thing  that gets me, I guess. Part me thinks  that they’re reasonably proficient on their instruments and they can write a song, so why bother comparing them with men, or women?

But I can’t stop myself from doing that and it’s  because they use their gender as a gimmick, as a vehicle for their music, and that shits me off.
In an older video, they explained this in detail, if somewhat naively.
They tried to use the drummer’s sexuality as a gimmick too, but they’ve since deleted the Youtube video where they taunt her with chants of “we like penis, you like vagina…” and hopefully realised that’s a shitty thing to do to someone, even in jest.

In conclusion, they have more than a thousand fans on Facebook – some who’ve got Ovaries tattoos – and I’m just a sad old hater, I guess.

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Little Scout – ‘We Are Walking Out’ (video)

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Back in 2008, I decided I wanted to blog for this site in order to improve my writing (yes, I was that naive) and to gush about bands I really really liked. Hearing Little Scout’s first single ‘Dead Loss’ and not seeing anyone else gushing about it prompted me to email Jerry Soer and ask if he’d let me join the fun here. They were one of the first bands I posted about.

Now I’ve kind of sort of left the blog (as has Jerry), and Little Scout are releasing their debut album, after releasing some great EPs and building a solid touring CV.

Fuck yeah, history.

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Riding off into the sunset

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Dear internet,

After two-and-a-half years, 140 posts and numerous opinions I’m handing in my logins and leaving the blog.

It’s been fun, but I’ve got other stuff I want to do.

Thanks for putting up with my erratic taste in music. I hope I helped some bands out with my posts.

Thanks to Jerry Soer for giving me the opportunity to contribute to what is a fucking awesome blog and all the other bloggers who’ve contributed, especially current editors Matt Hickey and Melissa Tan.

You can find me over at Twitter if you give a shit about that sort of stuff.

Thanks!

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The Waifs – ‘Angela’

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The Waifs – ‘Angela’ (mp3)

Listen to

Although the core band members now live in the US, to me The Waifs are an Australian band. Those accents! Those songs! That record label they co-own with John Butler!

Twenty years of playing together combined with twenty years of life experience has helped birth Temptation, their first album in five years.

I think it’s their best yet. The arrangements are quite sparse compared with their earlier work, but it’s a good thing. Solid songs should be given room to breathe.

They’re touring in March.

www.thewaifs.com

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