Grass Widow is an all-female post-punk trio from San Francisco who formed in 2007. In 2009, they released their self-titled debut LP on Make-A-Wish Records and a follow-up on Kill Rock Stars in 2010 entitled Past Time.
They are currently touring in support of their newest release, a 7” entitled Milo Minute (the first in a series of releases entitled Common Chord, which will be on the HLR imprint), which includes two covers—Wire’s “Mannequin” off of the classic LP, Pink Flag, and “Time Keeps Time” by Neo Boys, an early 80s post-punk band that Grass Widow claims is a large influence.
All of these facts aside, I had never listened to them before aside from one song that I cannot name. My friend talked me into going by telling me that this show is sandwiched within a tour with the Raincoats.
On top of this, Filmstrip was opening, a local favorite who always puts on a good show and this time was no different. If you haven’t heard their 2010 LP, Everything Can Change, please change that. They had played at Ingenuity Fest earlier in the day, and while the band themselves claimed this was the lesser of the two sets, it came off to me as though they were still pretty much on top of their game.
As always, I was grateful to hear “Should Have Seen It Coming” live, one of my favorites off of the record.
Gross Relations is a band from Brooklyn and I knew absolutely nothing about them going in. During their soundcheck, I realized the singer also had a synthesizer, which caused worry almost instantly. My many previous experiences with synth-based post-punk bands hasn’t gone so well, which is a shame, because I truly enjoy each thing separately.
Cynical me was fearing the worst, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was awesome. It was fuzzy power pop! The entire set was fantastic, with the standout being the could be/should be hit, “When You Go Down.” I borrowed $10 from my friend and bought their EP, Come Clean.
Finally, Grass Widow took the stage to soundcheck, during which they mentioned issues with the stage monitors. After a few songs, the guitarist, Raven Mahon, stated that her monitor wasn’t working (which evoked a “well, it is Now That’s Class” response from a crowd member*), or at least that she couldn’t hear anything coming out of it. This could explain why it seemed to me that the guitar simply wasn’t loud enough.
The entire set felt a bit off, as if Mahon wasn’t confident enough to play louder. It could be for this reason that bassist Hannah Lew’s basslines shone through to carry powerful melodies throughout the songs.
Another issue that I found, although it is very likely that it is tied into this first problem, was that the drummer Lillian Maring was too good. Maring’s timing seemed impeccable, even bringing to mind Stephen Morris in her metronome-like beat; however, without a proper blend of noise, it was far too apparent as to how busy her drumming was. There were times when the drum parts caused a dissonance that overpowered the songs. Although it seemed to all fit in their closing song, the previously mentioned cover of Wire’s “Mannequin.”
The nicest and most unique trait of Grass Widow is that each member sings—which I know isn’t, by itself, all that unique (as fans of Vivian Girls would note). What makes Grass Widow’s harmonies their own is that each member seems to have their own voice, which gives a feeling that these voices are fighting for their own ground. It’s as if the voices are meant to clash, but when they come together, they meld into a wonderful sound that is especially refreshing over the type of music I’m more used to hearing yelps, shouts, and whines over.
Overall, I think the band itself is talented, and although the music didn’t seem to be all it could be that night, the songs were structurally strong. The experience did what I feel shows are supposed to do, and it piqued an interest to listen to the records.
*I have to note that Now That’s Class is one of the best venues in Cleveland. The sound system can show its limitations, and that can be said for nearly any live music venue, but despite this issue, there have been some fantastic shows at NTC (Ty Segall/Wooly Bullies and Wonderful Fest 2011 come to mind).
For this reason, it’s the perfect home field advantage venue, in which local bands and other groups familiar with its downfalls can make the most out of it and sound amazing. Which makes sense, because we should be rooting for all of our Cleveland bands.
