Biography
During a nine-year stretch fronting Los Angeles trio Snap-Her as lead singer and bassist, Andrea Beltramo-Shay drew frequent comparisons to ex-Runaway Joan Jett. While traces of Jett’s delivery surface in Beltramo-Shay’s vocals, the two artists diverge sharply: Jett leans toward punk-tinged hard rock, whereas Snap-Her delivered raw, snarling punk and punk-pop steeped in the sound and attitude of late-’70s and early-’80s American and British punk acts. Occasional pop touches appear in the band’s catalog, yet they remain gritty rather than polished and bear no resemblance to the melodic emo approach of Blink-182, Fenix TX, or the Sloppy Meateaters. Instead, Snap-Her’s punk-pop sensibility acknowledged debts to the Ramones, Buzzcocks, X-Ray Spex, and similar first-wave punk groups. Beltramo-Shay launched the band in 1993, already equipped with prior experience that included bass duties in fellow Los Angeles punk outfit the Creamers and in the De Rita Sisters; she also plays guitar and has accompanied vocalist Nina Hagen in that role. Lineup flux marked Snap-Her’s entire existence, sometimes resulting in all-female configurations that featured, among others, bassist Lisa Pifer and drummer Sue Owens. By the early 2000s the group included guitarist Vince Buckley and drummer Tom Curry, the latter previously of the ’80s band Kommunity FK. Regardless of personnel, the music consistently embodied Beltramo-Shay’s vision—lyrics that were explicit, exaggerated, and deliberately provocative in the manner associated with Fear’s Lee Ving during the early ’80s. Refusing to temper her politically incorrect stance, she supplied such song titles as “Fuck Earth Day,” “Blue Balls,” “I Hate Christmas,” “Penile Implant,” “Conformist Cunt,” and “I Was a Teenage Lipstick Lesbian.” At times the band’s humorous material mirrored her personal interest in bondage and S&M; as a dominatrix and fetish model, Beltramo-Shay contributed short fiction to publications including Whips & Chains and Extreme Fetish. The group’s albums comprise the 1995 release It Smells, It Burns, It Stings and 1997’s Queen Bitch of Rock & Roll—produced by U.K. Subs guitarist Nicky Garratt—both issued by New Red Archives. Several Snap-Her tracks later appeared on the 2001 split CD Division 1 alongside material by Left Alone on One Shot Records. In April 2002 Beltramo-Shay declared Snap-Her’s dissolution, citing a desire to focus on writing books of both fiction and nonfiction, studying foreign languages, and tattooing. Asked in early 2003 whether she intended to pursue solo recordings or revive the band, she answered, “No. After 18 years of playing in bands, I have moved on to the next chapter of my life.”
Albums
