Years active 2011 - Present | Website www.thegirlsbang.com | |
 | ||
Origin Columbus, Ohio, United States Genres Power pop, alternative rock, punk rock Associated acts Carson Drew, Evan Harris & The Driftwood Motion, Joey Blackheart & the Gallows, The Reacharounds, Dead Girlfriends, Savage Pinkos, Company of Thieves, Tommyguns, The Scratches, Matter of Planets, SWARM, Red Sun Members Jessica Wabbit, Joe Damn, Ryan Vile, Mike Ortiz, Darby Antle, Raeghan TheSavage | ||
The Girls! are an American power pop band from Columbus, Ohio. The band has been described as a "pop-punk party band". The lead singer, Jessica Wabbit, is the older sister of Bloodshot Records recording artist Lydia Loveless. The band name is either pronounced as "The Girls" or "The Girls Bang" due to the exclamation point.
Contents
Formation
The Girls! were formed in 2011 by front-woman Jessica Wabbit, Joey Blackheart and Ryan Vile. After adding Big Nick on drums, the band decided on the name "The Girls!", adding the exclamation to help separate them from other bands with the same name. The band started playing shows and then added Bent to play bass guitar and Raeghan TheSavage to sing backup vocals.
Critical Reception
The Girls! were well received by the local press, being one of the "top 10 bands to see" and "bands that blew me away" at ComFest, the nation's largest independent volunteer-run festival, and Central Ohio's largest music and arts festival.
The band was one of 5 "Bands to Watch" by The Alive in 2013.
Debut LP and Joey Blackheart
The Girls! self-released their debut LP,Let's Not Be Friends, on April 18, 2014. The record received positive reviews. "If this song isn’t in commercials and teen angst movies and on TV shows and at least as well-known as “Johnny Are You Queer?” by Josie Cotton in a few years, then there is something horribly, terribly, insanely wrong with this world." was written about the record's closing track, Sophomore.
Three months after the LP's release Joey Blackheart, founding member and lead guitar player, died. The band posted to their Facebook "Our Best Friend and bandmate, Joey Blackheart, passed away on Wednesday. We are all a mess right now. Everyone please be safe."
The band continued on, adding Joe Damn on lead guitar and touring in 2014 and 2015. (Sometimes sharing the stage with Jessica's sister, Lydia Loveless).
In April 2016 The Girls! released a split album with the band Bruiser Queen. It also introduced a new lineup with Darby Antle on bass and Mike Ortiz (from the band Company of Thieves) on drums.