Pirate Riot

(The Advocate: Nov. 30 - Dec. 6, 1995

"Bring the Noise" by Michael Strohl)

Pirate Jenny isn't noisy, but the band likes to rock. Over tea on a late-November evening, two-thirds of the Northampton trio and I tried to arrive at some sort of consensus on the band's "sound." A year ago I labeled them "love-rockers," a tag which, given indie rock's rediscovery of innocence through its critique of the grunge mainstream, seemed appropriate if slightly misleading. Actually, for reference points, you could trace Pirate Jenny's minimalist folk-punk sound back through Beat Happening and the sparer, less tumultuous moments of Throwing Muses to post-punk feminists the Raincoats, before that band discovered dub. Even then, however, a definition of their sound remains elusive.

Maybe that's because guitarist / vocalist Aimee Swift, guitarist / vocalist Amy Greene and drummer Jon Carisi employ such unorthodox methods, like swapping instruments on stage or tampering with the triad rock line-up by recording with two guitars instead of a bass, in their pursuit of uncompromised originality. "It's fun switching around," Greene said. "We have much more opportunity to do different things, and I think our songs tend to become more varied because of it. Each song is really written and conceived in a way different from all of the others." Consequently, it's difficult even for band members to pinpoint a predominant sound. "We hate when people ask us that question," Swift said. "We have to learn what to say."

Poppy without being precious, the trio's songs wed musings borrowed from the bedroom journal with minimalist musical settings that are at once folksy in their raw simplicity and defiantly punk in their gleeful irreverence. Where most bands will tap a sound and mine it to its furthest limits, Swift and Greene's versatility as songwriters and musicians ensure them a broad palette of sounds from which to work. "We don't really worry about being cohesive anymore," Greene said. "In fact, I think we're much happier not to be cohesive."

"On your first record, people will be like 'Oh, they have this sound,'" Swift added. "But then after you put a few records out, it's boring. Then you're struggling to make these different sounds. So I think it will be easier for us when the time comes."

For the time being, the band is happy finally to release their debut single, "Conversation X" b/w "Folly," on their own newly organized label, Red Hot Records. The project, Greene tells me, had been on hold since September of last year, at which time they had to cancel studio time because the band's original drummer decided to leave. A succession of interim drummrs didn't expedite the process either, as Swift explained. "Our songs had really been jerked around by going from drummer to drummer to drummer." Thus, when Carisi joined the band in February, it took some time for the songs to readapt to the new lineup. "We were working on a lot of new material and playing out a lot," Swift recalled. "We concentrated on getting really tight with Jon, working on developing a chemistry between the three of us."

In addition to the single and a track featured on Chunk's forthcoming "Hotel Massachusetts II" compilation, the band is considering the possibility of releasing an EP, as well as keeping busy with plans for Red Hot's second release, an as-yet-untitled cassette compilation of local artists, including Pirate Jenny, Tizzy, New Radiant Storm King, Diana Davies and the Ray Mason Band, to name just a few. This commitment to community, coupled with their do-it-yourself politics is reflected in the homey, grass-roots feel of the band's own music. While one could imagine the label becoming a more female-friendly version of Chunk, providing even more local artists with the opportunity for their music to be heard, Swift and Greene maintain that their primary focus is the band.

"We're hoping to write a set of good songs," Greene said of the band's immediate goals. "We've got some on the burner that I think have a lot of potential. Our main focus right now, I think, is the songwriting."

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