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ALL-GIRL BAND IS ALL ABOUT ROCKING OUT
Friday, August 29, 2008
BY DON THRASHER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
There are plenty of talented women musicians in the Dayton area, but Vanity Theft is surprisingly one of the few all-female rock bands in the region. Since forming in Springboro in 2005 when the musicians were all teenagers, the group has spent most of its time performing with male-dominated acts, which is a perfect fit for this mighty quartet performing at RiverScape at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29.
"We've never come across an all-girl band," drummer Elyse Driskill said. "We've never actually even played with one. We've played with girls in bands, but we've never played with an all-girl band."
There's a good chance that could change. Driskill, Brittany Hill (vocals, guitar), Alicia Grodecki (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Lindsey Keene (bass) of Vanity Theft certainly have the goods to inspire a generation of guitar-toting girl groups, a term these young ladies don't mind.
"I don't mind being in a girl-band category because it does separate us," Driskill said. "I like being different."
"It's weird though because I never think of us that way anymore," Hill said. "People still refer to us like that sometimes, but it doesn't happen as often as it used to, which is kind of cool, I guess. But when I hear people say that, I'm always like, 'Oh, yeah, I guess we are all girls.' I just don't think about that anymore."
And other than the fact those are obviously female voices at the forefront of the gritty post-punk songs, gender is not an issue. Vanity Theft flat-out rocks and they don't need any stinking boys to bolster the group's powerful sound. Um, that is except for Tyler Orr, the Nashville-based producer of the group's debut E.P. and upcoming full-length, "Post Script, Pace Yourself." His crisp production provides the perfect setting for Vanity Theft's infectious sound.
"Post Script, Pace Yourself," tentatively set for release in late September, is a stunning effort, overflowing with crunchy rock songs topped with a dueling twin-guitar attack, sterling vocal interplay between Hill and Grodecki and indelible melodies. "Symptoms," "Where's the Action?" and other cuts recall the best parts of '90s bands like Veruca Salt, Velocity Girl and Tsunami topped with subtle New Wave flourishes.
"We're really happy with how the CD turned out," Hill said. "We're hoping to start getting more attention in Dayton, which looks so far so good. We hope people come out for RiverScape and, yeah, just be on the lookout for the CD."
More info: www.vanitytheft.com.
Rock Insider, by contributing writer Don Thrasher, appears weekly and gives a behind-the-scenes view of the Dayton music scene. Contact Thrasher by e-mail at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.
