THE WILLOWZ PLAY THE UNION SEPT. 28TH
By Hershell Baxter - 9/18/2005
The Willowz first release was a 7-inch on Posh Boy Records in 2002 (while the Willowz were still in their teens). Shortly after the release of their first 7-inch they released a 9-song ep on Dionysus Records selling out the first pressing of 1000 and being named album of the year by OC Weekly. The follow up will be their first full-length release on Sympathy for the Record Industry including songs from the previously released ep and brand new unreleased material with new packaging. In the Spring of 2005 Sympathy For the Record Industry will be following up with one more full-length of material from The Willowz. This record and the follow up is a shot at all the unenthused, inauthentic music that seems to be ruling the airwaves these days.
|
The Willowz reigning from Anaheim, California are: Richie James Follin, Jessica Reynoza, and Alex Nowicki and Dan Bush. The Village Voice (NY City) says that they are "Punker than the Ponys, and even more childish, but just as vulnerable. Maybe youth is feeling fragile these days." While OC Weekly (Orange County, CA) states "Trash pop, soul punk, nugget freaks, are what the Willowz have been described as, but they also seem to represent their Orange County/Los Angeles roots. They're Slick and fatty; you could roll corn dogs with it. But live and unpolished, they're rolling down a hill in a trash can, punky kids pinching Nuggets riffs into sloppy-but-smarter-than-it's-supposed-to-be teenage rock."
The Willowz have been on 4 national tours and 2 European tours and have supported bands such as the Weirdos, the Dirtbombs, the Briefs, the Fever and The Epoxies. Their most recent tour of which was to support their latest UK single on Rex Records, (XL Recordings) which also won single of the year in the UK magazine Infromation.
As well as releasing their first material, this year has also seen them get an incredible start to their career. Michel Gondry (he of Björk, Chemical Brothers and White Stripes video directorial fame) discovered them whilst scouring the web for music for his film, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and, upon loving what he had stumbled upon, promptly used "Something" and "Keep On Looking" to soundtrack a scene with Kirsten Dunst dancing around in her underwear. Not the sort of thing that happens everyday.
It doesn't end there though. Michel has gone on to make a suitably odd video for "I Wonder." (link to video)
Over this past summer, The Willowz have recieved tons of national press, including great reviews in SPIN, and Rolling Stone magazines (Rolling Stone also did a short feature on the band), and have completed yet another national tour. Not being ones to stay put for more than a few days, They leave again for a tour which includes NYC's annual CMJ Marathon, a juant through Canada, and a stop at The Union Bar and Grill in Athens OH. Don't miss this one!
