Biography
While comparisons might link Grass Widow to the Vivians and Dum Dums, this San Francisco trio operates as a modestly distinct entity. Assembled in the late 2000s, the lineup of Hannah Lew, Raven Mahon, and Lillian Maring follows an egalitarian, D.I.Y. commitment to shared creative potential that echoes Rough Trade figures such as the Raincoats, Essential Logic, and Kleenex/LiLiPUT. The imprint of Britain’s initial wave of independent bands registers clearly, whether by design or otherwise, yet Grass Widow forges its own contemporary result from those earlier raw materials.
Just as those acts reworked the harsher, more derivative traits of England’s Dreaming-era punk, Grass Widow undercuts the casual fuzzed-out punk thrust common among peers by favoring a skittering, unsettling rhythmic method shaped by equal parts invention and necessity. Their signature three-part vocal style likewise generates an uneven sense of moodiness that adds complexity to what remain straightforward post-punk songs. The outcome registers as striking in stronger moments and still inventive even when less successful. Their self-titled debut full-length surfaced on the small Make a Mess label in 2009 and was soon followed by an EP on Brooklyn’s Captured Tracks. After shifting to Kill Rock Stars, the trio issued Past Time in August 2010, then delivered the more polished Internal Logic in 2012.
Just as those acts reworked the harsher, more derivative traits of England’s Dreaming-era punk, Grass Widow undercuts the casual fuzzed-out punk thrust common among peers by favoring a skittering, unsettling rhythmic method shaped by equal parts invention and necessity. Their signature three-part vocal style likewise generates an uneven sense of moodiness that adds complexity to what remain straightforward post-punk songs. The outcome registers as striking in stronger moments and still inventive even when less successful. Their self-titled debut full-length surfaced on the small Make a Mess label in 2009 and was soon followed by an EP on Brooklyn’s Captured Tracks. After shifting to Kill Rock Stars, the trio issued Past Time in August 2010, then delivered the more polished Internal Logic in 2012.
Albums
Singles
