Philthy Mag, myself, and Philadelphia, itself, have always been quite the fans of San Antonio’s Southernly soulful power pop trio, Girl in a Coma, who have released four brilliant LPs in the past half-a-dozen years and are rightfully proud to be signed to Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records. I have often proclaimed GIAC to be “The only band worthy of their Smiths-inspired moniker.” I have cited their infectiously riotous, bubblegum punk number, “Static Mind,” to be one of the 10 greatest rock songs of the past decade. And the girls (or post-Grrrls), who seem to be perpetually on tour, have graced the stages of almost countless Philadelphia stages, from the humble likes of Millcreek Tavern, the Khyber, the M Room, North Star Bar, and Ortlieb’s Lounge to the mega stages of the TLA and Electric Factory. They have also toured alongside the likes of some of recent musical history’s most impressive acts, including Miss Derringer, The Coathangers, Sia, Tegan and Sara, and even, the holy grail of contemporary pop artists, Steven Patrick Morrisey. The girls have a string of upcoming May and June gigs, which kick off with the girls opening for The Smashing Pumpkins (click here for dates).
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I recently got a chance to chat with bassist Jenn Alva about these dates and what can be expected of the girls in 2013. Of The Smashing Pumpkins’ tour, Alva tells me, “We were ecstatic to find out about these dates. We were fans of the band growing up and, like Morrisey, it’s always fun to play with an artist you admire and the excitement of just getting to watch them every night.” However, the band also has new music in the works, which fans can likely get a taste of by the year’s end: “Right now we’re writing. Nina’s got so many songs and hopefully we’ll be able to get them organized and recorded by the end of the year.” When it comes to where Girl in a Coma get their sound, Alva says it’s generally a natural progression of their individual record collections. “We all have our tastes in music,” she tells me, going on to say, “ Phanie’s [drums] always into Riot Grrrl and punk and I love rockabilly. Nina [vocals/guitar] loves Bjork… and right now she’s loving Indian music, which is really interesting. She’s actually trying to sing like those artists do.” In terms of what you can expect of the sounds, Alva says that they’re currently going in a more gracefully and enjoyably chaotic direction: “Definitely fast, a lot of the songs are gonna be fast – people seem to love that stuff. We’re just trying to make a fun album.”