Matt Armstrong wrote this on thread Rolling Teenpop 2007 Thread on board I Love Music on Jun 22, 2007A few months ago, dabug rattled off a few forgotten (or soon to be forgotten) teenpop acts. That's how I discovered the insanity that is Gemz.
One of the other ones was The Valli Girls. And the Valli Girls confuse me.
I was only able to download 2 songs, a dull ballad off the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie (Always There In You) and a mindbending single- Don't Gotta.
Don't Gotta is amazing. It has an extremely lame chorus-- "Don't Gotta Have Sex, babe, if you want to be sexxxxy!"-- and the verses are a nonsensical melange of female empowerment, but the song is an assault of hooks. This song has it all: monstrous chord progression, huge bass, beautiful vocal harmonies and fills, a rap solo, a soaring guitar fill, and even a tire screech for good measure. I love it.
So then I visited their myspace page. It hasn't been updated in 7 months. The band is seemingly defunct, without ever putting out a record, but you can stream basically an entire album.
The descriptions of the band itself on the myspace, and their label's website, are unbelievable:
"Costa Rican native Houghton is the band's powerhouse vocalist. Guitarist Danielle Haim-who is endorsed by Gibson guitars-was schooled on Zeppelin, Hendrix, Clapton and "all three Kings-Albert, Freddie and of course, B.B." Danielle's sister, Este-the most outgoing and boy crazy member of the band-brings the slappin', in-your-face bass to the party. The classically-trained, Japanese-American, Ally Maki works her magic on the keyboard. Although she is the youngest member of the band, Lil' Nix plays seven instruments and brings slamming drum beats with a hip-hop attitude."
"Lil Nix can quote any Notorious B.I.G song VERBATUM (sic). Try her. She never disappoints. She also happens to be ridiculously punc tual (sic)! Jeez Nix! Raquel Houghton is our fearless lead singer who always brings the funk when we're jamming. Plus she has the best reflexes of anyone in the Valley. Not sure what that means but its gotta be good. Pura Vida. She also hails from Costa Rica. Sweet. Danielle Haim rocks out on her guitar and puts all the boys to shame with her mad shredding skills. It has been witnessed. Please do not attempt unless you would like the shredding of the skills up close. Don't mess with her, she knows Kung Fu. Ally Maki is our resident Chopin/Keytar player, who also has the most vast knowledge of the Chanel clothing line EVER! Not to mention she's pretty handy with a pair of scissors and a needle and thread. Ally really needs to be in the next installment of Charlie's Angels. Just a thought. Este Haim enjoys slapping things, among them is the bass. She also has a kick ass sense of humor and always keeps us laughing. And no....she's not crazy........ all in all, to us its all about having fun and playing our music! that's all for now folks!"
I mean, seriously. WHAT? Is this for real? Or is it all a Monkees-like act? The gorgeous lead singer with chops, the quirky bassist with a more rock voice, the cute asian keyboardist, the spunky rapper/drummer. It's all a little hard to believe. But... I want to believe.
Do they actually play the instruments on the records? Because, indeed, the drumming on the records IS awesome, and the bass is great too. And I mean, fuck, a KEYTAR?!?!!?
And the songs, the songs! Why didn't they ever release the record?
Born to Lead- Minimalist R&B with synth riff. Somehow related to a Cosmo Girl promotion
It's a hair thing- Fun Disney Channel rockpop with the INSANE lyric "Welcome to the Trollz World," and the awesome lyric "Conquer evil, then go shopping." Apparently from some Trollz related cartoon.
Don de esta Corazon- Latin ballad. Why not? Effective chorus, yet again.
Keys to the hummer- AWESOME lyrical hook in chorus. "don't want to be the fun for your summer, just give me the keys to your hummer" Novelty subject matter should have resulted in a hit, I think. Feisty, ultra-simple guitar fill that warms my heart.
Amazing- Maybe their high point. The chorus has a vocal run that is delicate, subtle and irresistible. But listening to this song, you'd think it was not from a band, but a solo pop singer. That's a striking thing about their songs-- each one is dramatically different.
Never Say Never- Enjoyable ripoff of Complicated. Like that song, has fun rhythmic adventures in the verses.
I would appreciate any and all further information about this unusual band that the board can provide.
― how's life, Thursday, 11 April 2013 11:11 (eleven years ago) link