Notes on the Tanya Donelly-Girl Authority connection, and the next Darkbuster Hometown Throwup
By JIM SULLIVAN | January 23, 2007
Tanya Donelly |
Not long ago John Virant, label president at Rounder, was chatting up the nine-girl Boston pop group GIRL AUTHORITY to TANYA DONELLY (formerly of Throwing Muses and Belly, now a solo artist). Virant’s daughter, Zoë, sings in Girl Authority. (Zoë is also the name of the Rounder imprint for which the band record.) Donelly, who lives in Arlington, took her seven-year-old daughter Gracie to see them play in Natick. “Gracie loved them,” she reports, noting her daughter is perfect for the 5-to-15 demo. (The GA gals are 9-14.) “And I thought they were really good, too. It’s pure, enthusiastic pop, and they really can sing, with good choreography.”Donelly wrote four songs for GA, the first of which, “This Is My Day,” will be on their second album, Road Trip, out March 13. “It’s a girl-power song,” she explains, where the girl discovers that “it’s up to me to make my day. Empowerment for young girls is always an important issue.” Also writing for the CD were VINCE CLARKE (of Erasure) with a bubbly dance tune, “Let’s Get Together,” and CYNDI LAUPER with a ballad called “Shine”; it’s filled out with covers of the Go-Go’s, Pat Benatar, and Joan Jett. Girl Authority have two concerts at the Natick Center for the Performing Arts this Saturday, January 27; the 2 pm show is sold out, but as of this writing tickets are available for the 11 am show.
February is one of our darkest months, so why not devote a week to DARKBUSTER, the twisted punk-rock band? They’re hosting their second annual “Hometown Throwup”; not to be confused with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ old “Hometown Throwdown,” it’s seven shows in seven nights at the Abbey Lounge, February 18-24, with three different openers each night. Darkbuster’s 2005 Weakness for Spirits has been picked up for re-release and national distribution by the LA-based label I Scream.
On the Web
Girl Authority: http://www.girlauthority.com/
Darkbuster: http://www.darkbuster.net/
Email the author
Jim Sullivan: jimsullivanink@verizon.net
Related:
Youth or consequences, Balm’s away, Top ten Boston CDs: week of October 29, 2006, More 
- Youth or consequences
The Click Five are sequestered somewhere inside Q Division studio, and Girl Authority are seated in a circle in the lounge area, scheming a way to meet the lead singer. Girl Authority, "This Is My Day" (mp3)
- Balm’s away
Karma is in full force on the morning Tanya Donelly and I meet at Carbury’s coffee shop in Arlington to talk about her new music. Tanya tunes: Donnelly on her previous bands. By Ted Drozdowski
- Top ten Boston CDs: week of October 29, 2006
Street Dogs, Tanya Donelly, the Lemonheads, and more.
- Tanya’s new Life
Nearly three years have passed since formerly local heroine Tanya Donelly issued her last record, 2004’s Whisky Tango Ghosts.
- Boston music news: March 21, 2008
When Trent Reznor made the new Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts I-IV available as a download earlier this month, all the hype was about the method of its release.
- Hersh's bar
The essentials
- A muse amused
There are a few good reasons to admire Kristin Hersh’s latest solo album, Learn To Sing like a Star . Hersh's bar: The essentials. By Brett Milano
- Boston music news: June 8, 2007
As Brett Milano detailed in “Cellars by Starlight”, a couple of years back Linda Viens and Emily Grogan were playing their guitars while their kids played together.
- Boston music news: October 27, 2006
Imagine the Pixies, Devo, Rocket from the Crypt, and the Cure all on one bill. That’s sort of the idea this Halloween downstairs at the Middle East.
- Boston music news: February 15, 2008
Notes on the Motion Sick and Warren Zanes
- The 40 greatest concerts in Boston history
The Phoenix picks the shows that have defined the scene
- Boston music news: May 9, 2008
The album recorded in 2005 by Unbusted— the Martha’s Vineyard core of the Billionaires — has indeed seen the light of day.
- Less
Topics:
New England Music News
, GIRL AUTHORITY, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, More
, GIRL AUTHORITY, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Tanya Donelly, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Cyndi Lauper, Throwing Muses, Vince Clarke, John Virant, Less
