Sister Breed

Someone used the term "Crimson Wave" to describe the recent spate of releases by young women making a dark and gloomy racket in their bedrooms. It's supposed to be a joke, so don't go adding that tag to your Ebay listings or anything. There have been quite a few of these kinds of projects cropping up--you're probably aware of Zola Jesus, soon to have 7"s out on Sacred Bone and Die Stasi, and maybe U.S. Girls--and now here's another one, Circuit des Yeux, who is one Haley Fohr of Lafayette, IN. She sent me this CD-R in the mail a few weeks ago and I still owe her something in return (Haley it's coming ... here's a good review till then). I think she might only be in her late teens, but you'd never know it from these defiantly weird, distinctly female home recordings. From the stuff I heard on Myspace I thought it would mostly be a lot of otherworldly caterwauling, but the 10 tracks actually showcase a variety of styles, ranging from the creepy wailing and scraping violin on "Eyes" to the buoyant acoustic guitar and handclaps of "The Escorts" to the field-holler "Penance Blues." "We are the sister breed, it's our time" she sings on "Sister Breed," and I won't presume to know what she means by that, but it sounds like a call to arms for the young, female and weird everywhere. I only wish I was this cool in high school ...

I'm not sure if she's still offering these for trade, but you might be able to check with her at her Myspace. I hope someone wants to do a 7" for her or something sometime soon.