There has been a shortage of real female rockers lately, hasn't there?
It feels like a million years ago when Garbage, led by the beautiful yet deadly Shirley Manson, was conquering modern-rock radio with a blast of femme angst. These days, pissed-off little girls only have Avril Lavigne to bang their heads to. Oh, how sad! Perhaps if they dug a little deeper in the web they would find Landonband (http://www.landonband.com), perhaps the finest mix of Maxim sex appeal and testosterone since Garbage.
With guitars loud enough to wake the neighbors but not scare your parents, Landonband offer that accessible bridge between mainstream pop and punk rock. Until you're old enough to discover Siouxsie & the Banshees and X-Ray Spex, Landonband is here to feed you radio-friendly hooks wrapped in layers of fuzz.
Landonband wastes no time in getting the blood flowing. The opening slice of death saga, "Only 20," describes the painful hypocrisy of teenagers not being old enough to drink yet the government has no problems sending them off to war and be slaughtered. Just when you think all perspectives of the Iraq War have been written about already comes this punch in the stomach. "Only 20" begins with a playful beat that erupts into slamming guitar riffs, capturing the loss of innocence in its lyrics.
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Landon sure sounds like she has a chip on her shoulder; however, there's no whiny emo screaming here. "Hush" and the No Doubt-ish "Ms. Jones" convey adolescent rage with toe-tapping energy. This is slick, well-made alternative rock.
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