Obsessed w/ FM-era Stevie (article re: all-girl band Magneta Lane)
 

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2006/04/29/1556094.html

(click the link to see their pic - a buncha hotties! Here's their myspace link if you wanna listen: http://www.myspace.com/kissingiseasy)

April 29, 2006

Magneta Lane bound for rock glory

By DAVID SCHMEICHEL - Winnipeg Sun

Chances are good you’ve never heard of Magneta Lane. But chances are even better that’s about to change.

A Toronto trio whose members are barely out of high school, Magneta Lane is riding high on the strength of the just-released debut Dancing With Daggers.

The album is a tight and aggressive chunk of New Yorkish garage rock, much like what The Strokes might sound like if Nancy Sinatra filled in on vocals. But it’s all the more impressive when you consider none of the young players had even picked up an instrument before deciding to form a band in late 2003.

“After a while of seeing so many shows, it just got to a point of like, ‘Hey, I want to release my own record, and I want to play my own shows, because I can do this,’ ” explains singer-guitarist Lexi Valentine. “It was silly, but we thought we’d do it anyway.”

Together with cousin Nadia King (drums) and high-school friend French (bass), Valentine began hammering out tracks for The Constant Lover EP, which was released by Paper Bag Records in fall 2004.

Despite the steep learning curve they faced (King literally practised by tapping out rhythms on furniture at first), the young women quickly realized they had it in them to craft proper rock songs.

Record label interest followed, and before they knew it, the band was in the studio with Death From Above 1979’s Jesse F. Keeler.

“You just pick up your instrument, and as long as you can make noise with it and as long as it harmonizes, you can make it sound good,” says Valentine, after admitting she still can’t read sheet music. “We don’t like the idea of someone coming in and helping us write songs. That seems kind of dishonest.”

Magneta Lane’s members have always been heavily influenced by music, be it the Doors and Pink Floyd records their parents always spun or the Kinks, Connie Francis and Sonic Youth discs they discovered themselves.

Valentine (who’s currently obsessed with Fleetwood Mac-era Stevie Nicks) admits even she was taken aback by how quickly her band found success.

But she doubts it has anything to do with the industry’s often-patronizing view of girls with guitars (who just happen to be good-looking).

“I would think by now they’re past that,” she says. “People should just deal with it. We’re young, we’re female. Who cares?”

And Valentine is every bit as uninterested in being painted as anyone’s Next Big Thing, since she and her bandmates are in it for the long haul.

“That sounds so fleeting, and that’s the last thing we want,” she says. “We want something lasting and stable. This is one of the only stable things in our lives right now, so I hope it lasts a long time.”

Magneta Lane play tonight at The Collective, with Small Sins and The Mandarins.

When they say FM-era Stevie, exactly what years are they referring to?

I have, actually! "The Strokes fronted by Nancy Sinatra" is actually a pretty good way to describe their music. I don't know that it really does that much for me (particularly since I really don't care for the Strokes), but ya gotta give props to a girl band with chops.

As for "Mac-era Stevie," I would guess they mean pre-solo career.