French Vanilla is a self-proclaimed ‘art-punk’ act out of Los Angeles, formed by 4 UCLA undergrads in 2013. In their live shows, they’ve shared the stage with Girlpool, Screaming Females, Tacocat and Cherry Glazerr. Their self-titled release French Vanilla is a nine-track monster with a particular take:
“Taking a dissonant, politically minded approach to no wave that hearkens back to the genre’s glory days; think Bush Tetras after a weekend of binge-reading Audre Lorde and taking saxophone lessons.” -via CLRVYNT
Coming together in the creatively inspired LA queer arts scene, French Vanilla is set for a release next week, on March 24th via Danger Collective.
Sally Spitz (vocals), Ali Day (guitar/bass), Daniel Trautfield (bass/sax), and Max Albeck (drums) make up French Vanilla, who feel most at home in LA’s queer punk underground, where they got their start. Their music is full of welcomed social critique, ideologically challenging the SoCal music scene, often dominated by a handful of male tastemakers.
Ali Day had a few thoughts to share on their debut album:
“When we started, half of us had never played music before, and it was difficult figuring out how this music thing works. On the other hand, we felt driven by a desire to exchange ideas and creative influences. This first album focuses on issues important to us, both personal and political.”
The group is so stylistically different, that it’s almost a given that listeners will be gleefully taken aback in the first few moments of the record. French Vanilla rides that wave of inspired dialogue, cheerily cutting through the filler content of modern music. Storytelling is front and center, exciting, and ultimately memorable.
You can pre-order French Vanilla here, and stick with the group on Facebook as well.
