She/Her/Hers – Kill the Boy Band (2019 EP)

She/Her/Hers – Kill the Boy Band (2019 EP) Okay! On first listen, I thought this wasn’t really my style.

On the second listen, it was already better. All the while knowing that this band isn’t likely to become one of my favourites. In fact, I have a lot of trouble with the singer’s voice, especially when he’s shouting. And as he does a lot of shouting… it’s easy to see why!

As much as I love British punk, I have a hard time with anything that sounds like Californian punk. Even the lyrics are dirtier and more adolescent in the latter. I don’t know if this music can be considered Folk Punk, but I’ve got nothing against Folk Punk. Note that on their Bandcamp page, the keywords are: punk, folk punk, queercore, singer-songwriter, trans (but also transgender) and Lansing.

On the other hand, it reminds me of one of my all-time favourite bands, yes… Dexy’s Midnight Runners. And it’s mainly because of the horns. So there are those who will simply say that I’m old and others who will say that I’m a great connoisseur!

Lansing is for Michigan. The singer-songwriter is mainly because Emma Grrrl remains the band’s leader and songwriter. The queercore is certainly due to the fact that the band considers itself to be Punk Queer Hardcore. Oh, I just read this on an official site that answers the question: ‘She/Her/Hers is a queer punk band sincerely and critically exploring gender constructs, social dynamics and mental illness.

Formed in 2014 in San Diego, California as a solo project, singer/songwriter Emma eventually moved to Portland and was joined by trumpeter Piper Bazard. After moving to Lansing, they were joined by drummer Cody Kuuttila and bassist Jake Matter.’ And I also found this review online: ‘I took a closer look at the band and was a little disappointed by an interview I read. The lead singer is Emma Grrrl and she’s been very influenced by folk punk bands I personally like like Against Me, Johnny Hobo and Nana Grizol, but then she makes some very negative comments about how she criticises people in local bands for being all white and all cis men. But her group seems to be all white and half the group in the photos are cis men.

Let’s face it, punk is overwhelmingly white males, but I don’t feel like being hypocritical and overly critical of people living their lives will encourage new demographics to join the scene. Let the boys exist, but bring positivity, support and encouragement to new groups with humans of all genders and complexions. We don’t need to put others down to elevate ourselves.’ I find this very interesting and couldn’t have expressed the sentiment better. Incidentally, this sort of hypocrisy is a bit of a lyric in the first song, Kill The Boy Band, which is a hit and also the band’s second most-listened-to song on Spotify to date.

A song that annoys me and is saved by its trumpet, which really adds a nice touch. I’m listening to it over and over as I write my review, but after this exercise, chances are I’ll never listen to it again! That said, the more you get into it, the better it gets.

The second song, The Spaces In-Between, is better and my personal favourite is the third and final song on the EP, the very good The Execution of All Things.

You can’t find too much information about this band, they don’t have a Wikipedia (yet). I don’t see them on Instagram either, and they don’t have a description or blurb on Soundcloud.

Well, despite my lack of enthusiasm, I think this band is fighting for the right reasons and it is with anger that they have decided to break down barriers and boundaries. Not without a sense of humour, but that’s not necessarily mine. The band’s name was not chosen at random.

I think I’ll go and listen to their 2022 album one day, but it’s not on my list of priorities just yet.