Shiragirl Rocks the Warped Tour and Beyond

Yes, another all-girl rock band.  And there still ain't enough of 'em.  New York's Shiragirl  (yo, Brooklyn!) is currently tearing it up on the Warped Tour and appears this Saturday, July 17 at Babes Burnin' Rubber to Fight Breast Cancer, an all-day walk, festival and concert event at New Jersey Motorsports in Millville, NJ (A mere 50 minutes from Philly),

Shiragirl is garage-punky, a band of self-starter types headed up by singer/frontwoman Shira. Remember, maybe, TV's old Mary Tyler Moore Show where Lou Grant said he hated "spunk."  Well here at Buzzine, we like spunk and Shiragirl has plenty to spare. In fact, the group crashed its first Warped Tour six years ago. The bold move won Shira an MTV Warpie Award and also a spot in the Warped Tour Time Capsule at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 
"We'd talked to Kevin Lymon (Warped's heach honcho), but he'd said 'Not this year, it's an anniversary, there's too much going on. Maybe next year,'" Shira said. 
But not willing to be turned down, the band came up with a plan. And a clever one at that. 
"We were traveling the country in an RV, a pink RV. So we showed up at one of the dates, playing in the parking lot and it looked like we belonged. The audience is half girls," Shira said. "So it was like the whole DIY thing. We had a mini-PA in the back of the RV. It didn't sound so great, but it was very punk rock."
Lymon was so knocked out, he invited the band aboard for the rest of the tour and also started up the Shiragirl Stage featuring all-female bands, which included the now big time Paramore and the legendary Joan Jett as well, who took Shira under her wing as a mentor, as did punk icon Tim Armstrong who co-produced Shiragirl's debut album. 
"We really wanted to provide a platform for all-girl bands, female artists," Shira said. "I didn't understand why it wasn't out there. We knew it all existed and really wanted to proudce whole all-girl theme, so we got it together."
Music didn't come first for Shira. Dance did. 
"I've been a dancer since I was three years old. I've done acting. As far as singing goes, I didn't do that until I was 19. 20 years old," she said. "I did it and got the bug. I met up with a producer in London who helped me put some music out.  I've also been studying creative writing classes, poetry, performance art and spoken word."
Shira also taught dance to younger girls, 11, 12 years old, who've discovered her other life in Shiragirl. 
"They like the songs they've heard. But I don't talk about it, it's a differnt persona; some of the older girls knew about it.  

Shiragirl's  album Scream! Spit! Sing! is due August 6. The tunes are rich with playful punk impact with a catchy pop rush, also embracing touches of hip-hop in breakdowns. There's the racing "Sick Day," about taking a mental health day from not just school or work, but life (hey hey HEY!), while "Tantrum" is great nah-nah-nah riff rock. Also full that aforementioned spunk are "Go Go Go" and the near= metallic cut-and-grind rap of "Roll with the Crew.' 
Though not on the new album,  "Stomp It Out," recorded for the breast cancer benefit with producerds Swiss Beatz, is a hard-to-resist hand-clap-along anthem that may remind some of the Ting-Tings and also reaches back to the "new wave" early '80s in style.
The band's been playing the news songs for a variety of audiences at venues ranging from festival settings to clubs. And everywhere, the crowd responses have been thumbs up all the way.
"I notice with the songs that it's a little different every gig we do," Shira said. "Sometimes we play a metal show, sometimes we try to tailor a set list to the audeince. We always want people to be into it, to make the live show better. 
The band's also been known to pull out cover songs like The Runaways classic, "Cherry Bomb" (fully with Joan Jett's approval, too). 
"We're always doing new covers every couple of months," Shira said. "I used to not be about covers, but with this band I have now, it's all good."
With a new album, Warped tour dates and the group's own shows, Shiregirl is rocking the world Shira's way. 
"It's been a long time coming." Shira said. "I wondered it anyone was going to hear it [the album], I didn't now what was going to happen with it. I feels really good to have this out."


Shiragirl appears on the 2010 Warped Tour Compilation. Follow Shiragirl on Twitter, Facebook, and myspace.