Taking their name from a Patti Smith song, Summer Cannibals operate as a straightforward rock & roll band. They surfaced from Portland, Oregon's growing indie community via two riffy, punk-infused self-released efforts before signing to the Kill Rock Stars roster and delivering the well-received Full of It in 2016. When the finished recordings for a fourth album proved unsuitable, the group assumed full control and self-produced 2019's Can't Tell Me No.
Singer and guitarist Jessica Boudreaux launched Summer Cannibals in 2012. Their first album, No Makeup, arrived in 2013 on the band's own New Moss Records imprint as a lo-fi blend of fuzzy garage pop and riffy punk-influenced rock. The follow-up, Show Us Your Mind, was tracked in 2015 with Portland engineer Larry Crane at the helm and moved the sound closer to its essential rock core. After those two releases and extensive touring, the band joined famed Northwest indie Kill Rock Stars, which teamed them with producer Chris Woodhouse (Wild Flag, Thee Oh Sees) for the label debut. By then Boudreaux had settled on a trio configuration featuring bassist Jenny Logan and drummer Devon Shirley. Full of It, the third LP, came out in spring 2016. Over the ensuing two years the group kept touring while developing new songs. After completing an entire album that Boudreaux ultimately rejected, she and her bandmates—having left an abusive personal and creative partnership—chose to produce and engineer the next record themselves. Tiny Engines issued the resulting Can't Tell Me No in 2019.
