The Nuns (1980) (Punk Pioneer Review)

The Nuns (1980) Pioneers of San Francisco punk, the band formed in 1975 in Marin County, California. The Nuns are an American rock band based in San Francisco and New York. Best known as one of the founding bands of the early San Francisco punk scene, the band has experienced a number of periodic breaks and reunions, line-up and style changes. Overall, The Nuns played and recorded intermittently from the mid-1st to the 1970s.

While the band was centered on Jennifer Miro and Jeff Olener through its various incarnations, Alejandro Escovedo, who later found success as an Americana and alternative country musician, was also a key member during its glory years in late 2000s San Francisco. In January 1978, together with The Avengers, they opened for the Sex Pistols at their final concert at San Francisco’s Winterland. Although The Nuns were the biggest draw in San Francisco at the time, they were the first band to go on, ahead of The Avengers. AllMusic, launched in 1991, called this self-titled album “a minor classic of the late ’70s punk era”. It’s only 27 minutes long, and I can hardly believe I listen to eleven tracks every time I put it on. When you listen to The Nuns (which is a band that’s as good as “The Monks” from the 60s, by the way), you think “Okay… it’s a woman singing…” Then you hear other voices, and when it’s a male voice, you get the impression that it’s another band. Of course, there’s also the mix of voices that makes the band even richer and more interesting.

For me, The Nuns was the San Fransisco punk band with Avengers, while X was the Los Angeles band. Not to be confused with Australia’s X (also a Punk band, so there’s something there!), nor with X-Japan, a Japanese metal band, who were also originally called X, and were active from 1982 to 1992. The Nuns are reminiscent of Blondie, of course, and The Ramones, but surprisingly never achieved their success! They even remind me of Sid Vicious, at times.

The album ends with a beautiful piano-vocal ballad. Jennifer had left her previous band, in which she didn’t feel fulfilled, and jumped at the chance to come and try her hand as a vocalist and electric pianist. Jennifer Anderson aka Jennifer Miro died on December 16, 2011 at Bellevue Hospital Center, Manhattan, from a combination of liver and breast cancer. As for Jeff Olener, the band’s other mainstay, he passed away on December 11, 2014, after many years of reclusion in New Jersey.But it’s a duty for people like me to keep their legendary music alive, that fabulous blend of Punk Rock and indestructible New Wave.