Gore Gore Girls Get The Gore

Born by the pale blue glow of “Hullabaloo,” lullabied by the River Rouge Stamping Plant and honed to a shiv point by midnight B-movies, Detroit’s Gore Gore Girls' come-hither sneer draws a sonic line (in thick, black eyeliner, babies) from the Girl Group ground zero of the Brill Building to the legendary punk Mecca of the Grande Ballroom. Get the Gore’s innocent and insolent sound finds both the gum-snapping punk in the Ronettes and the sweet and dirty romance in the Stooges.

It is brash, cute and killer. Be forewarned, though, anyone who writes the Gore Gore Girls off as only big hair, go-go boots and reform school allure misses the meat of the matter; slowwitted oglers are liable to get rudely muscled aside when the Girls hit the stage with their fully loaded Gretsch guitars, sweet harmonies and three-on-the-tree energy.

Simple yet savage songs like “All Grown Up” “Don’t Cry” and “Pleasure Unit” (co-written with nether-worldy rock-and-roll legend Kim Fowley) make you want to take the top down, even if you need a blowtorch to do it. Raveups like “Fox in a Box” and “Casino” will have you stashing the half pint in your ass pocket so you can do The Fug or The Swim. The psychedelic shimmy of “Where Evil Grows” and “You Lied to Me Before” will groove the black light crowd right out of their pads.

Amy, guitarist, vocalist and the Gore to the fore, formed the Girls out of an uncontrollable and perhaps unhealthy fascination with the style and sass of classic ‘60s girl groups and the convulsing sonic energy of an industrial American city disintegrating. Being a fellow member of the Sisterhood of the Gretsch, Marlene (fondly referred to as The Hammer—listen up and you’ll hear why) signed on soon thereafter on the lead guitar. Bassist Carol Anne Schumacher (who also finds time to play in The Detroit Cobras and Reigning Sound) and drummer Nicky Styxx round out the Gore lineup on the album. The Gore Gore Girls’ knockout live show—sexy, but in a “Watch it, wiseass” kind of way—has landed them tours with rock ‘n’ roll legends The Cramps and manic psychobilly preacher Reverend Horton Heat.

"Rollicking girlie guitar-and-handclaps in the vein of Holly Golightly, the Chalets and the Pipettes." —Playboy

"Packed to the gills with killer hooks and toxic mascara." —Minneapolis City Pages

"Detroit garageists sound like the gum-popping, guitar-toting granddaughters of Chuck Berry and the Beach Boys…" —USA Today

“With the follow-the-leader chorus, massively infections hooks, and a ripping guitar bridge, “Don’t Cry” allows the Gore Gore Girls to usher in a new era of badass babe rock with their old school punk chops and beckoning bad attitude.” —SPIN.com

"Amy's vocals are loaded up with tough rock 'n' roll strut one minute and sweet Spectoresque Brill Building melody the next. Hence, the nitty gets separated from the gritty: Any rocker worth their salt can handle the former; very few can manage the latter. Get The Gore is bloody good and upholds the honor of schlockmeister Herschell Gordon Lewis's words. No shit." —Detroit Metro Times

"This is a 38-minute, mini-masterpiece of garage-punk bravado that allows the heady sound of the Gore Gore Girls to not so gently bleed into your ears. Once heard, never to be forgotten." —Popmatters