We previously featured The Shondes back in January but wanted to remind everyone of this band flying under the radar still.
According to their bio on Sonicbids.com,
The Shondes (taking their name from the Yiddish word for "shame" or "disgrace") are a rock quartet based in Brooklyn, New York, who make dramatic and powerful rock music, fusing elements of Classical and traditional Jewish music with their punk sensibility. Made up of drums (Temim Fruchter), bass (Louisa Solomon), guitar (Ian Brannigan), violin (Elijah Oberman), and powerful, intertwining vocals (Solomon, Fruchter, Oberman), they have been compared to Patti Smith and Sleater Kinney. The result is a unique sound that is devastating, heartbreaking, and transcendent, transfixing audiences with the richness and passion of their songs.
The Shondes are known for their complex, melodic rock sound combined with soaring, rich vocals, and a live show that explodes with energy. Their instrumentation fuses the various musical traditions of Classical, Jewish, Queercore, and Feminist Punk, while their vocal melodies move effortlessly from anthemic to haunting, textured by the distinct qualities of each of their voices. The high energy of their live shows bring audiences along for the ride, and audience members are swept into the world of the show, often singing along, dancing, and swaying to the heavy rhythms and soaring melodies.
From their formation, The Shondes have maintained a rigorous performance schedule including festivals such as North by Northeast and Homo A Go Go. They have shared the stage with indie luminaries Electrelane, Erase Errata, Amy Ray, Mecca Normal, Joe Lally (Fugazi), and Lesbians on Ecstasy, among others. The band also organizes frequent parties and events, often pairing with local activist organizations, such as this December's "Chanukah Ball" and the Valentine's Day Party for the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. In the summer of 2006, they went on a 10-week, 45-city tour of the US, and returned to a packed schedule in New York and the East Coast They are now recording their debut album, The Red Sea, to be released in Fall 2007.
Melding traditional Jewish music with feminist punk overtones, The Shondes' music is complex and rich while still hanging on to that punk-rock veracity... truly a fresh breath of air for a female rock band in a genre proliferated by glitzy girl-rock and whiny, unimportant vocals.
The Shondes - "Let's Go"
The Shondes - "The Mother and the Colony"
The Shondes - "I Watched the Temple Fall"