Ghosts & Shadows - She Makes War » Press

Press : She Makes War, Disarm and Independence” – Cementum

warriorgrrl — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:22:16 +0000

“Politically aware, emotionally pertinent and touching, crunchy punk, grunge pop. If you’re looking for ’sound-alikes’ try Nirvana crossed with Veruca Salt and PJ Harvey, with a little sprinkling of fairy dust. It’s ace.”

Read the full post (and more about Richard’s Cementum project) here.

Press : SMW “Musings” Quoted on rubken.net

warriorgrrl — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:17:47 +0000

My recent post: “Thanks and Musings on Independence” was picked up and discussed by the good folk over at rubken.net in a post about “preparing excellently” for recording: “Thanks to @warriorgrrl for showing you can make great music on a sensible budget”.

Read the full post here.

Press : “Disarm” Reviewed By The Kaje

warriorgrrl — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 10:34:27 +0000

“we have what could possibly be the most under-hyped yet equally exciting debut album of the year to discuss. “Disarm” is a culmination of genres and defies labelling in the way you would expect a true DIY artist to.”

Whilst many of her contemporaries spend their time trying to fit in, Kidd is unashamed in her desire to stand out from the crowd. Whilst “Disarm” is far from un-radio friendly, it is also effortlessly distinctive”.

4.5/5 – Jeremy Williams – The Kaje.

Read the full review here.

Press : “Disarm” is album of the week on Soundwerk, Germany

warriorgrrl — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:41:52 +0000

“We like the personality behind it and also the pure true sound very much”

Read the full post here.

Press : “Disarm” on Virgin Music Blog

warriorgrrl — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:00:15 +0000

“Locked away in the albums thirteen tracks are sounds that overlap and crash together to form melodies that instantly stick in the mind, they could soundtrack multiple situations that life throws up. From small burst of frustration, happiness and confusion….Disarm is a record that deserves to be heard by everyone.”

Read the full post here.

Live Review / Thoughts – Re-Dress @ Ryan’s Bar 22.8.10

warriorgrrl — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:41:53 +0000

“She Makes War…ends the night on a high as she effortlessly switches between guitar and ukulele to deliver a beautiful set of addictive melancholia and soaring vocals.” – Elizabeth Martin, The Girls Are.

+++

Last Sunday night I had the pleasure of curating an evening of female centric music as a collaborative effort between my female musician’s group My Big Sister and DIY label Genin Records.

Named Re-Dress and held at Ryan’s Bar in Stoke Newington, the bill consisted of magical looping loveliness from Lobelia, gnarly rock from Dana Jade, quirky riot punk from German touring band Two Tears For Barbarella and a set of Telecaster, ukulele and vocals from yours truly. There was a real family atmosphere – I’ve honestly never felt so much love from an audience before! – I’ve played at a lot of DIY nights but just shifting the male/female balance in the room and encouraging people to give their attention and respect to the excellent performers made a massive difference in how it all felt. We had clapping and screaming, singalongs, dancing…it was quite a Sunday night!

The lovely folks at The Girls Are sent a reviewer and photographer down to cover the night – you can read the whole piece here (and do check out the rest of their excellent site).

As I told the audience throughout the night, us DIY performers need YOU! If you see us play and like it we need you to look us up when you get home, click “Like” on things, mention us to a friend or two, send us an email or a tweet and just generally share.

My huge thanks to all the performers and audience members who came to the first Re-Dress and made it so special – I now encourage you to click on all the links in this post and check out the songs, videos and blog posts all the artists who joined me on stage last Sunday have to share with you. I’m talking to them all about putting a podcast together from the audio I recorded throughout the evening and who knows what future collaborations may bring…there will certainly be more nights like these coming your way – be there!

I leave you with my uke and loop cover of PJ Harvey’s “Hardly Wait” – an example of the magic than can happen when your looper fails (damn you, Digitech!):

Hardly Wait (PJ Harvey cover on uke & loops) by shemakeswar

Photo by Balk for The Girls Are.

Press : SMW Interviewed on This Reality Podcast #130

warriorgrrl — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:45:11 +0000

Hear all about the origins of the band name, my ropey first attempt at drum machine when demoing recent single “I Am” and my thoughts on video right here (my bit’s at the beginning):

This Reality Podcast #130

Thanks to Bren and Sophie for being so friendly!

Press : Photo Intraview with A Negative Narrative / Catherine A.D.

warriorgrrl — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:53:26 +0000

The wonderful Catherine A.D. poses the questions, I respond in pictures, some of which also feature in my limited edition photo/picture book out next week alongside the CD. More on that soon…

See the question/answer photo set here and download “Olympian” for free!

“Weighty issues and edginess form the crux of her eagerly-anticipated debut LP – Disarm (out next week, and buyable here) – which contains a plethora of diamond-sharpened grunge songs documenting love, loss, betrayal, homicide, genocide, crap friends and animal urges. If you imagine the grainy tumult of Blood Red Shoes fortified with an intriguing blend of Telecaster, ukulele and loopology, then polished off with an angsty ranting rasp, you’re close to the proverbial bone.”

Press : SMW on Cash Music with Corin Tucker!

warriorgrrl — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:03:26 +0000

“She Makes War is a solo project from Laura Kidd. I could point out that she’s a gifted musician, especially on bass. Or that she has a knack for writing a great pop song that’s a bit more than it seems. Or even that her voice mixes with the bass-heavy tracks in a great and unique way. But none of that would do any justice to what she’s doing — Laura has built a complete aesthetic around She Makes War and has created a world ready to draw you in. So go jump on the preorder as soon as you’re done watching the video for “I Am.”

Read the full post here.

Press : Album Review on More Than The Music

warriorgrrl — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:00:19 +0000

“”Disarm” is the first independent, full-length release by She Makes War, a.k.a. Laura Kidd; multi-instrumentalist, session musician, and some-times singer of The Young Punx. Purveyor of grungy, lo-fi indie, She Makes War’s style of self-proclaimed “gloom-pop” tackles the disappointments of everyday life in a typically matter of fact fashion, revealing and discussing life’s negativities in a way that is solidly influenced by the 1990s grunge scene. Fusing Seattle’s style of nihilistic despondency with the aggressive yet girlish stylings of the likes of Riot Grrrl bands, She Makes War creates guitar centric music with slices of post-modern synthetic sounds and feminine vulnerability.”

Read the full review here.