at a glance...

Hometown: New York, NY
Year Formed: circa 1993

Members:
Amedeo Pace -guitar, vocals
Kazu Makino -guitar, vocals
Simone Pace -drums
Maki Takahashi -bass

Related Bands:
The Lapse, Unwound, Fugazi, Sonic Youth

Notes:
Formed by Italian twins Amadeo and Simone and two Japanese art students after a chance meeting in a New York restaurant. Their performances attracted the attention of Sonic Youth's drummer Steve Shelley, who produced and released their eponymous debut on his own label, Smells Like, in 1994. Maki departed shortly after its release, and the band continued on as a trio for 1995's La Mia Vita Violenta, 1997's Fake Can Be Just As Good, 1998's In An Expression Of The Inexpressible, and 2000's Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons. Guy Picciotto of Fugazi has been acquired as producer, and Vern of Unwound has helped out with bass duties.

Links:
Blonde Redhead
A very cool French BR site. Worth checking out.

An unabashed reverence for Sonic Youth's clangorous musical ethic fuels this 1994 debut. Blonde Redhead have earnestly studied that band's method of fusing disparate peals of guitar into frail, blinking melodies, but they adeptly avoid mere mimicry by providing their arrangements with a welcome degree of flexibility. Under the tutelage of SY's Steve Shelley, they revivify a well- traversed genre.

Simone lays some hammering foundations down on "Swing Pool" and "Sciuri, Sciuri," and compliments the convulsive chords of "I Don't Want U" with a scuddingly dislocated rhythm.Though the recurrent ringing of Amadeo and Kazu's guitars dominate most of the tracks, each terse composition remains unencumbered by indulgent noodling; the skillful economy with which they invoke SY's spirit keeps their wanderlust in check.

The half-spoken, oft-buried monotonic vocal delivery perfected by Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore is put to good use by the Redheads, but on the samba-inflected "Girl, Boy," Kazu seems to take her cue from Astrud Gilberto (of Getz/Gilberto fame) at her breathiest.

If you like Blonde Redhead, check out:
Blonde Redhead In An Expression Of The Inexpressible
Blonde Redhead Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons
Sonic Youth Goo
The Velvet Underground Loaded

-- p

Ink Blot Home
about | archives | contact | links

---

Copyright © 1997-2002 Ink Blot Magazine. All rights reserved.