The Music Box, April 2002
SXSW 2002: Live from Austin
Written by T.J. Simon
The Hissyfits at
The Red Eyed Fly
March 13, 2002
Does the idea of a band that combines the sounds of The Go-Go's and The Strokes sound good to you? Me neither, but somehow New York City group The Hissyfits makes it work. Shrieking guitars, pounding drums, and rockin' viola (go figure) provide the backdrop for little girl harmonies over a New York sneer. Black leather, fishnet stockings, tattoos, and smeared eye shadow set the scene for this hard driving set that recalled the sound of Veruca Salt. These four ladies are the kind of girls that your mama warned you about. Princess, Hallie Bullitt, Ren, and Sivan set the room on fire as they ripped through girly punk rock songs from last year's likable Letters From Frank (***1/2)...the show was superb.
It was cold and dreary in NYC, so we packed our bags and headed to L.A.--one of our favorite places to play. Frank from Coolgrrrls invited us to play a Grrrls Nite Out Party at Goldfinger's and although the stage was so small we almost fell off and Princess blew up El Centro's amp, we still had a fabulous time and got to hang out with some old and new friends: our kind hosts Kiyoshi and Josh, Princess's ex Johnny Reno and his new squeeze Julie Boo Boo, superstar hottie G.W. from the totally dope L.A. band 1976, Sivan's best girl Amber, Hallie's special boy Amo, Ren's friends and family, and all the L.A. Coolgrrrls! Other highlights from our trip include playing with The Angoras at The Garage and with Captured by Robots at Spaceland. We wished we could have stayed longer, but we know we'll be back soon...
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