READY TO FIGHTVancouver Punks White Lung Are Prepared to Kill
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Photo by Michelle Ford
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Hardcore is just about the gayest form of music around. Electroclash? At least those guys had the balls to come out with it and dress like women. Italo-disco? Those guys can all take ten times the drugs you could. Hardcore, on the other hand, is full of rippling, topless, sweaty, repressed guys groping each other to bands with names that sound like they were made up by an insecure four-year-old with a tough-guy complex.
All of a sudden, though, a group of four mouthy girls from Vancouver have turned up to save the day and show all the dickless boy-wonders how it’s done. White Lung combine the feral energy of the Germs with the taut, wiry dynamics of the Wipers and have released a string of singles that keep improving in a bewilderingly exponential fashion. In fact, they are this repressed hardcore kid’s favourite new punk band as of right now. Vice: What is a “white lung”? It sounds like a black lung gone nuclear.
Natasha Reich (guitar): An eight-legged ball of fury. Grady Mackintosh (bass): Isn’t it a degenerative disease associated with long-term asbestos exposure? Mish Way (vocals): No! A “white lung” is the slang term for a disease that bakers get from inhaling flour. Our friend Steven worked at a bakery and suggested we call the band White Lung. We had a show coming up and we were still nameless but they needed to make posters and White Lung worked. It sounded pure but intrinsically disgusting. I liked it immediately. You list “fighting with taxi drivers” as an influence. How often do you find yourselves trading blows with cabbies?
Natasha: It’s pretty hard to find a cab driver that will pick up four people equipped with amps and guitars. Usually we end up having to get one person to stand up the road a bit and flag one down then while they’re distracting the driver we all run up with the equipment and throw it in. Mish: I wish you’d asked how “hot teenagers” influenced our music instead. You guys might just be the first punk band ever to have a song about ketamine. Over here it’s mainly a drug that squat kids who listen to psy-trance take.
Mish: That’s hilarious that you associate ketamine with psy-trance kids. One of my ex-boyfriends befriended another ex-boyfriend of mine when they both lived in Berlin. It broke my jealous little heart. They partied a lot together and one used to feed the other ketamine. The song is just an excuse for me to be a resentful hag through shitty symbolism. Do you ever get shit being a band of laydees in the sweaty, macho, male world of punk?
Natasha: Once a guy walked up to me while we were playing and broke my guitar in half, chucked it at some innocent girl, and told us to get punk or get out. So I killed him with my bare hands.
CIRCLE JAMS White Lung’s “Magazine” seven-inch is available now on Deranged Records. myspace.com/whitelungwhitelung
See all articles by this contributor Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
i.....i.... think i have the white lung. ’cough, cough’ | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
smokey robinson crusoe, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
how old are these chicks?!? no way she’s legal drinking age right?
They are a hardcore band they should all be nocking back bottles of vodka and getting seriously mental, one beer does not = hardcore. NEXT! | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
what are you talking about? this is TOTALLY hardcore. they are wearing chuck taylors. what could be more hardcore than that? | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
THis is not hardcore, far too together. I could see this getting into the charts. There is a real lack of ferocity behind the music. Plus it doesnt make me want to get my top off and grope other guys......so not hardcore. | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
"no one like man girls"
what the fucks a man girl? sounds scary | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
yeah thank god for the heels. I know they want to be "hardcore chicks" or whatever...but they dont want to become man girls. no one like ma girls. | |
| anonymouse, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
is there a rule that all female canadian indie rock girls must be hot. someone give me an example that breaks this rule cause all i’m seeing is feist, emily haines, neko case, and these four newbies. | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
They may be hardcore band but at least one of them still went to the effort of wearing heels.... | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
Since when was ketamine a "psy-trance" drug? why didnt anyone tell me!!! I feel like a douche. | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
@probono
sad, but not very far from the truth | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
I’d love to turn that eight-legged ball of fury into double digits. | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
yeah, I’m not sure if I’d call them "punk"...pop punk is more like it.
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| probono, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
Still dont think that a bunch of angsty girls will be able to "save" the hardcore scene. Just let the boys go on groping each other, it makes them happy secretly. | | Anonymous, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
either their fashion is thoughtless or the put enough effort in it to make it look that way. kudos, girls. the music fucking rocks too. | |
| smokey robinson crusoe, on Mar 6, 2009 wrote:
how old are these chicks?!? no way she’s legal drinking age right? | | Anonymous, on Mar 5, 2009 wrote:
Finally you cover a band that doesn’t suck monkey nuts. Cool sound. The picture sucks tho. Why did you pick a photo where can hardly even see them? | | Anonymous, on Mar 5, 2009 wrote:
these are cool- i like the one with the flock of lesbians | | Anonymous, on Mar 4, 2009 wrote:
Holy shit...so impressed by their skill level. Very nice, where did you hear about this band? Thanks for the headup! | | Anonymous, on Mar 2, 2009 wrote:
"You guys might just be the first punk band ever to have a song about ketamine. Over here it’s mainly a drug that squat kids who listen to psy-trance take." NOFX ’Kids of the k - Hole’ | | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
um, what are you wasting your time on? get a photographer and get these girls for you next photo session like now! | | Anonymous, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
Yes! This is great. Like the YYYs without the annoying squeals from Karen O. | | Anonymous, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
i must admit, i was a skeptic coming in but i’m listening to their myspace right now, and these young ladies are fucking on point. you can almost tell they’re amazing live from these songs too. is this hardcore though? i thought hardcore was more shitty and suburban than this. | | | < Previous 30 comments | |
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