Last year, The Nervous Girls quickly gained steam and made a name for themselves through intense and cathartic live performances. Bay area music fans took note of the indie-punk trio’s eclectic meshing of several genres, which allowed the girls — Lauren Schuckel, Anne Schipper and Amanda Molinaro — to fit in on bills featuring metal, noise-rock, punk, indie and everything in between. After months of honing their material in a live setting, the band hit Atomic Audio to record its four-song debut EP, Hunger.
What’s emerged is an excellent recording that more than lives up to the promise of those initial live shows.
A big part of Nervous Girls’ appeal is its aforementioned ability to mix several genres that would be considered more neighbors than part of the same wheelhouse: On the EP’s opening track, “Pick Up The Phone,” angst-filled ‘90s-era alternative and grunge influences bring bands like The Breeders, Hole and Nirvana to mind. That tune seamlessly transitions into “Plath Song,” which opens with a shoegaze riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Slowdive LP. Hunger’s title track arrives to give listeners another dreamy shoegaze riff before allowing the EP to build steam and culminate with its cathartic closer. “Thoughts And Prayers” picks up Hunger’s pace, and its lyrics put a wrap on the EP with thought-provoking commentary on the current social climate, focusing intensely on the nation’s current struggle with mass shootings and gun control laws.
All of these songs are bolstered by a clear and crisp recording courtesy of the revered Atomic Audio — a Tampa studio known for being home to classic late-’90s recordings from bands such as Kylesa, Floor and many others. The quality of the recording lends the EP a sense of clarity — which these songs deserve — without sacrificing the raw and confrontational nature of the music. That combination is always an exceptional and welcome feat in underground music.
Hunger is an excellent debut EP, and it perfectly encompasses what makes The Nervous Girls such a special new band in the Tampa Bay scene. It captures the trio’s raw intensity and provides a clarity that live performances can sometimes lack. A clear step up from previous Nervous Girls demos, Hunger both fulfills and also builds on the promises the band inevitably started making from the very first time it hit the stage. The EP is sure to turn heads once it’s released, and the band has planned a must-see St. Petersburg show to celebrate.
Like-minded punk trio Piss Ghost, North Carolina two-piece Bangzz, and Tampa indie stalwarts Spork open the February 9 gig at The Bends. As with all shows at The Bends, it’s a free event, which is not to say that it would not be an event worth checking out if there was a cover; in fact, with no cover there’s no excuse to miss out.
The Nervous Girls EP release w/Piss Ghost/Bangzz/Spork. Sat. Feb. 8, 9 p.m. No cover, no assholes.The Bends, 919 1st Ave N., Saint Petersburg. INFO.
This article appears in Feb 7-14, 2019.