Not quite power metal, not quite pop metal, but maybe somewhere in between is the best way I could describe the new single from We Start Wars, the new band from Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Strauss. You may notice from the promo photo (and the headline) that the band is comprised exclusively of human beings without Y chromosomes – ya'know… women.
These women bring the heat, definitely feeling the riffage and the vocals took a bit to grow on me, but by the end of the track, I was definitely feeling the hook:
The band's lineup consists of Nita on guitar, Alicia Vigil on bass, Shauna "Seana" Lisse on vocals, Nicole Papastavrou on guitar, Katt Scarlett on the keys and Lindsay Martin on drums.
In the press release, Strauss elaborated on the band name:
"A phrase I heard years ago has always stuck with me: 'Some of the greatest wars in history were fought over a beautiful woman.' I've always been fascinated by the idea of the female warrior, someone who fights her own battles and doesn't take shit from anyone, and equally fascinated with the concept that a woman's love or defending her honor would be worth so much that people would actually put their own lives and the lives of others at risk over it. The most famous story everyone thinks of first is of course, 'The face that launched a thousand ships,' Helen of Troy. But there was also Cleopatra and Marc Antony, Attila the Hun's invasion of Rome, Richard the Lionheart rescuing his sister Joan of England during the crusades, General Wu Sangui's betrayal, which led to the downfall of the Ming Dynasty in the 1600s, and the Celts uprising against the Roman Empire in AD 60. The list goes on and on. So that's the story behind the name—We Start Wars represents not only the battles that women face in daily life, but also the battles that have followed them throughout history.”
If you're in LA, you can see the group make their live debut on May 25th at the Whiskey A Go Go in West Hollywood. For the rest of you, follow the band on Facebook.
