Two piece bands tend to be a hit and miss affair with more misses than hits. As well know from the wellworn dog-eared book of cliches, the cream always rises to the top but then again so does pond scum. In terms of garage punk bands this opens a debate of the merits of cream versus those of pond scum.
Sassy!!! are a two-piece band made of two girls, Lynda Mandolin (who was of Fat Wreck Chords band, Fabulous Disaster) and Christian Diabiase. The band mine further back than just the punk era using sixties sugar-coated pop girl group harmonies on "So Bad It's Good" and "It Really Hurts". It's not all sweetness and light though as witnessed by the large rowdy drumbeats duking it out with the distortion over the ever-present sweet vocals in "Devil's Dance".
To use another cliche, the band's minimalism brings their strongest qualities to the fore. The strong poppy yet punchy harmonies in tunes like "Something About You". Irresistible hammering drums that are often at the forefront of the mix.
There's an equal measure of pond scum punk attitude in the instumentation and the sweetness of cream in the harmonies so I'll leave the rising to the top debate to others. The sticker on the CD compares the bands to the Muffs, The Kills and The Gossip. I can't comment on the others but the Muffs comparison rings true. The only weakness is the lyrics which are typical rock relationship fare. Sassy!!! kick a whole lot of attitude and unlike the cover of their CD are definitely not two dimensional.
4/5
Band Site
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