I know I’m going to catch a little hell for them lol.
But fuck me, Courtney with her ethereal clean vocals and bestial growls is a force. Thing is, it takes one fucking great band to hold up to a voice like that.
This is the first song I heard of theirs, though it was The one take version rather than the album/video version.
Man i really love this band. IWABO was so rough even for the time they came out. This is such a huge upgrade to their music and vocals.
There’s a lot of female fronted bands doing the sing/scream combo now, but there aren’t many where the entire band is this solid. And, imo, none with the songwriting ability.
Tbh, most of the bands doing that seem like a gimmick rather than something that they really have passion for, and I think that’s the thing that makes spirit box work.
Huh, curious what these look like.
The only female-singer bands I’m aware of are this, Jinjer, Arch Enemy, Nightwish and related Dutch bands (Epica etc) and that’s about it.
Arch Enemy are the only one that doesn’t work for me.
Butcher Babies, Infected Rain, Nemophila, Crypta.
That’s just from the top of my head.
I hope you can enjoy some of it. :)
Edit: Grammar mistake
Cheers!
Eh. I think especially since Jinjer female screamers have become much more popular, both for fans and vocalists alike. Of course not everyone is going to be just as skilled but I wouldn’t call their attempts a gimmick.
Also, what type of “jokes” were you expecting anyway?
Yeah, jinjer is bomb :)
The usual go-to is “but that’s not real metal” with some degree of exaggeration so that it’s obvious it’s not to be taken seriously. There’s the occasional “it’s okay, it’s great that there’s bands for little girls to like”, or some equivalent. And a personal favorite, “poseur /s”.
I tend to call it a gimmick when the way the sing/scream is done never serves individual songs. But, you’re right, it’s probably more of a difference in songwriting and arrangement than the band just trying to jump on the bandwagon. I can’t think of any examples off the top of my head because I tend to just move on without remembering anything other than the fact that it didn’t work (for me anyway).
The other band that I can think of that has been around for a bit and is solid is Jinjer. They are more on the hardcore side but their lead singer Tati is very sweet and funny. And they have great music. The whole band is also very talented. Worth the listen!