Pretty Girls Make Graves

Pretty Girls Make Graves, Emerald City's newest indie-punk-rock hit makers, have a pretty simple M.O.: If they ain't fightin', it ain't workin'. That's what happens when you band together five people, each of whom wants his or her two cents duly noted.

"Everybody's bringing ideas," says bassist and singer Derek Fudesco, "and it makes you want to work."

By "work" he means "rip each other to shreds."

"When we practice," says guitarist (and ex-Kill Sadie member) Jason Clark, "about 75 percent of the time, if anyone comes in and they have a part, we destroy that part and break it down."

"We really do; that's not even a joke," says Fudesco, 26, a former Murder City Devil. "We get in massive fights when we write. Then we'll walk away from it, and then we'll come back. And then we'll do something else, and something really great will come out of it."

"We really don't know we're going to be happy in the end," says singer Andrea Zollo. "Everyone's generally really mad."

Whatever works--and the four songs on the band's current self-titled EP for Dim Mak Records certainly do. United by the urgency of Zollo's lyrics, songs such as "3 Away" charge furiously through an array of post-punk sonic change-ups carefully maintaining a satisfying balance: personal, but not overtly emo; political, but not self-righteous.

Live, the songs "work" even harder. During a recent gig at the Crocodile, the year-old outfit cut a distinctive figure--or rather, five distinctive figures: Drummer Nick Dewitt, 23, plays with a pew-straight back and shoulders like he's vying for a gold medal in posture. At 6 feet 3 inches or so, Fudesco's almost too tall to actually stand up straight. He flails about the stage like a tipsy Charlie Brown Christmas dancer, occasionally stepping to the mike to blurt an "Aaaaaauuuuggggghhhhhh!" Meanwhile, everything about 22-year-old guitarist Nathen Johnson is fresh faced, so much so that you'd never peg him to call for a bourbon and ginger ale during an early afternoon interview. Clark, 23, serves as Pretty Girls' straight-faced muscle man.

And then there's Zollo, 26. She struts on the Croc stage like a New York hardcore badass; pointing wide-eyed at her head or throwing fingers to the ceiling for emphasis. Only she's not a lunkheaded, testosterone-soaked jock, but a 5-foot- 4-inch compact powerhouse with stylish blond streaks and a knack for putting across inspired tunes like "Modern Day Emma Goldman."

Not all shows have gone so swimmingly. While opening for Sleater-Kinney at the Showbox earlier this month, they suffered a 10-minute equipment failure. Though they went on to win over the punk-hungry crowd, the band brooded over the set as their Worst Gig Ever.

This coming April, Pretty Girls will release an eight-song disc on San Francisco's Lookout! label. Included on the disc is a song called "Panic Attack," inspired by the anxiety bouts Zollo, Clark, and Fudesco all suffer. They insist that the songs are well removed from their current EP, but their perspective is probably colored by their ambition. Onstage, at least, the new songs sound of a piece with the existing ones--and that's nothing to be worried about.

Of course, you gotta wonder if now that Pretty Girls are so attuned to their creative protocol--the ideas, the fights, the separations, the synthesis--perhaps they've squelched its effectiveness. Clark suggests they progress to fisticuffs--just so they all know they're serious.
BY CHRIS NELSON

Dim Mak Releases:
DM033: "Speakers Push The Air" 7"
DM026: "s/t" CDEP

Discography
"Pretty Girls Make Graves" 12" (Sound Virus) CD (Dim Mak)
Sub Pop Singles Series 7" (Sub Pop) out of print
"Good Health" CD (Lookout)
"Speakers Push The Air" 7" (Dim Mak)
"Sad Girls Por Vida" 7" (Sound Virus)
"By The Throat" 7" (Hand Held Heart)

Press

Law of Inertia #11
Contrary to what my sometimes dense co-editor told you in his review of this band, I not only love the name of their band but I also think Pretty Girls are a very exciting band. Musically, the drumming is frenetically executed ini a style very very similar to At The Drive-In to point that some might very accurately accuse these guys and girl of ripping off the style thereof-but Pretty Girls Make Graves are foro more concerned with discenrable hooks and melody that ATDI. Throughout this disc, there is a girl-boy vocal interplay that makes others like Rainer Maria seem downright sentimental by comparison. As a matter of fact, the vocals here remind me far more more of Blondie or Concrete Blonde than anything coming out of the Polyvinyl imprint. Overall, a very interesting punk CD. THis could be a band to watch. Ross Siegel

ActionAttackHelicopter.com
Pretty Girls Make Graves s/t EP Dim Mak Records
A pretty decent punk release from Seattle's rising stars, PGMG. The band features members of Killsadie, Death Wish Kids, and Murder City Devils, but the music remains unscathed by the sounds of any of the former bands. Brief, upbeat punk numbers with sassy female vocals. Nothing too complicated. Will thrill fans of Team Dresch or Discount - Jessica Ann

Skratch
PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES self-titled
Pretty Girls Make Graves is a five-piece indie-sounding band that includes Derek Fuedsco from The Murder City Devils on bass. The female vocalist adds a nice blend of originality to the sound. At times the vocals are a bit growly and other times harmonic. Pretty Girls Make Graves is one of those bands that is always up in your face every song. My favorite track on this has to be their song "Liquid Courage." If you have the chance, be sure to check them out. -David Ostiguy

The New Scheme #4
PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES self-titled CD
The four songs here are the first released by thus new band that is sort of a Seattle all star team. There are members of Murder City Devils, Kill Sadie, and Death Wish Kids represented here, and it shows. This music is rhythmically similar to Kill Sadie, though a bit more straight forward than you might expect considering this band's resume. The songs are a good mix of styles, though Andrea's well sung vocals give it a definite melodic edge. The vocals themselves are really solid, and sound quite a bit like Allison from Discount (which is certainly a compliment). This music is aggressive, though still bouncy and melodic. The drumming is aggressive, while the guitars switch from bar chords to intricate scales in almost every song. The combination of the two elements makes for a good collision of a few different things that are easier to pigeon hole than the end result. Though this is only four songs, it demonstrates a surprising amount of versatility considering the length of the record, and the age of the band itself. If this is the first thing Pretty Girls Make Graves has recorded, I'm looking for big things from them if this does become more than a side project. And since all the bands the members used to be in are over, hopefully it will become a full time band.

Punk Planet #50
"S/t" CDEP
So the Murder City Devils broke up, and yes, we're all in mourning. This band features some alumni of said band playing a speedier, more melodic take on MCD's gothic punk with female vocals. Good stuff. (Kyle Ryan)

CMJ New Music Monthly
On The Verge We just drove by The Thing? "That's in here," Pretty Girls Make Graves drummer Nick DeWitt says, excitedly flipping through a list of 200-300 strange and bizarre destinations in an offbeat travel magazine ("The Thing", which swears viewers to secrecy, may or may not be a mummified baby.) His band's tour van burns through the Southewestern desert in the middle of their biggest tour yet, on e that kicked off in their hometown of Seattle with 764-Hero. PGMG have seen their share of mysterious roadside attractions since their urgent, neo post punk release Good Health catapulted them ou tof their sleepy little seaside town and into the arms of America and beyond; their current tour of duty takes them across the States with Saves The Day and Your Enemies' Friends before they head to Europe for the Readig and Leeds Festivals. The members of this female-fronted five piece, comprised of former Murder City Devils, Kill Sadie and Sharks Keep Moving conspirators, are no newcomers- and with their built-up-then-broken-down hardcore rants, tearing down the anxiety and creating an equally cacophonous resolution is the way of the road. For every charged, rhythmic progression that spirals down to a quiet moment, frontwoman Andrea Zollo is there to incite a fresh, riotous riff, making their live shows-and, one can only assume, their lives- failrly tumultous affairs. "Our new solution for easing the tension." reports DeWitt, "is water parks." Laura Cassidy Learmonth

ALTERNATIVE PRESS #168
"Whad'ya call this kind of music" writeup "What other bands are going to be in this story" asks a somewhat concerned Derek Fudesco, founder of Pretty Girls Make Graves. "I'm curious. ALl of us are making a conscious effort not to fall into that emo-hardcore thing." Put on PGMG's Lookout! debut, Good Health, and keep your knee-jerk reactions in check. Driving rhythms, charging guitars, tasteful electronics and samples coalesce while lead singer Andrea Zollo sings and yells her points across. Imagine Boss Hog singer Cristina Martinez and Burning Airlines guitarist J. Robbins grabbing each oother by the throat and tumbling down a flight of stairs. Or just call the quintet a punk band. "I associate the term with old music, bands like Black Flag and the Circle Jerks." Fudesco says about the punk tag. "But I have no problems with being called that. All of us come from different backgrounds, and we all struggle to get our ideas in. (The music) is just one big dogpile." Fudesco was a founding member of the highly touted Murder City Devils, the post-hardcore unit who did much to expand the genre's musical vocabulary. Zollo fronted the wonderfully named Death Wish Kids, and joined Fudesco in Area 51. Guitarist Jason Clarke is also a member of Kill Sadie, and drummer Nick DeWitt and guitarist Nathan Thelen played together in the Bee Hive Vaults. Clearly, PGMG aren't the standard pop-punk fare upon which Lookout! built its name, and that suits Fudesco just fine, thanks. "There is a tendency for people to buy a label's output, more than just a specific band," he says. "I don't really dig that. I wouldn't want to sign to a label just because kids buy all their stuff. I think it makes our reputation more real, that people had to discover us."

Criminal Conversation
Artist: Pretty Girls Make Graves
Title: Good Health 7"
Label: Dim Mak, Hand Held Heart, and Sound Virus

To be honest, I hadn't heard a non hardcore/noise/experimental type in a while that I really found entertaining. This all changed on a trip to Amoeba Music one day when I spotted three 7 inches that, when joined together formed one big band photo. Well, being the collector nerd I am I went ahead and picked them up.

Upon playing them all for the first time at my house, I was blown away. There are so few bands that can inject "emotion" into there music without being sappy and dare I use a vague phrase "emo". Pretty Girls Make Graves was neither of those things. Having found a band I quite liked, I quickly sought out the much more rare version of these 7 inches: the coveted "box set", which was worth every penny I paid for it, including the stamp for the letter to Hand Held Heart.

The music here isn't very easy to describe. Aside from the aforementioned emotion in the music, its really hard to put a exact pinpoint on. I've heard some comparisons to At The Drive In, minus the slightly nonsensical lyrics. I've also heard the accusation that this band is only getting attention because of it's members former projects (Murder City Devils, Death Wish Kids Sharks Keep Moving, Area 51, etc...) But don't buy this because you like or don't like those bands, buy it because you want to hear a great set of rock songs. - adam

back to top