REVIEWS

Move over The Donnas, here come Les Hell on Hells. Don't let their pretty faces and stiletto heels fool you, these ladies kick ass first and take names later. Comprised of Paula Monarch on guitar and lead vocals, Katie Rose on guitar and vocals, Chela LaRue on bass and vocals, and newcomer Jessica Roe on drums, LHOH pounds out 11 tracks of edgy punk-influenced rock and roll with a catchy pop-rock sensibility on its self-titled debut. Produced by Jack Endino of Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney fame, this record marks only the beginning for these Phoenix natives. Look out for big things to come from these girls in 2005. - William Reed / Echo

From the sun-bleached heart of Phoenix, AZ come Les Hell on Heels, four pistol-packin' mamas with polished chrome between their legs and the wind at their backs. The band's self-titled salvo is so round, so firm, so fully packed with tight, tuneful garage pop 'n' roll nuggets. Frontdevil Paula Monarch and her compadres veer wildly between lust and love, dismissal and devotion on ridiculously catchy cuts like "My Kind of Trouble," "Real Thing," "Broke Down Love" and, of course, their theme song "Hell on Heels." Supposedly Les Hell on Heels was the band about which late Bomp! leader Greg Shaw was most excited before he passed. If so, he went with a big ol' silly grin on his lips. - High Bias / Michael Toland

This CD just kicks it in from the start with full on pop harmonies with punk rock n roll. This is the debut form Phoenix's Les Hell on Heels, and they need to play Tucson more often. Produced by Jack Endino, this captures the loud, raw, energy that these girls have. By having a harder edge, their cover of Jeff Dahl's "Ain't So Cool" is perfection. They can be compared to bands like The Runaways, New York Dolls, Ramones, and The Stooges, but they create a sound of their own blending all those bands to unleash a pure fun rock n roll album. Good hooks, plenty of harmonies makes this album something that needs to be checked out. - Crimewave Magazine / David Pike

Jeff Dahl brought this Phoenix band to the attention of the folks at Bomp and for that I would like to thank him. Just like their name would suggest these four women know how to rawk. I'd have to say they have more in common with bands like The Runaways, New York Dolls or the Stooges than The Donnas or The Ramones just because they have that harder, rawer edge. Their cover of Dahl's 'Ain't So Cool' is damn near rock n' roll perfection if there is such a thing. This cd kicks from start to finish with its punk and rock n' roll mix laced with pop harmonies. A fun listen all the way through and the cd cover ain't hard on the eyes either. - Ear Candy Reviews / J.R. Oliver

For as long as I can remember, "chick" bands have mostly been considered nothing more than a cutesy-pie novelty item by the mainstream press and a vast portion of the music industry, as well. I vehemently say bullshit to such lame-ass, narrow-minded hypocrisy. Since the 1950s, Rock 'n' Roll has seen more than its fair share of wildly rockin' ladies who have made an indelible impact on the music world. These womanly musical wonders have included Wanda Jackson, Nico, Patti Smith, The Runaways, Deborah Harry, Siouxsie Sue, The Slits, Joan Jett, L7, Lunachicks, The Donnas, Rotten Apples, and now Les Hell On Heels. This smokin' sweet quartet of lean, mean, and curvaceous hell-kittens slams out eleven sonically blistering tunes that ultimately epitomize the rebellious, snarling spirit of Rock 'n' Roll loud and perfectly clear. Indeed, Les Hell On Heels possess an obvious primal enthusiasm to rock, an unstoppable enthusiasm that's bursting at the seams, contagious as hell, and downright addictive in all the right places. It's been quite some time since I've heard a release that immediately caused my heart to rapidly palpitate, my ass to spastically shake, and my skin to shiver with glee. Les Hell On Heels have done it, and I love 'em dearly for doing so. - Under The Volcano #3 / Roger Moser

The Konks 'play with cheap guitars and two lousy drums' and with this arrangement they pull off a rockin' garage band sound that may be unsurpassed by any other 'garage type' band out there today. The gem of this disc though for me is the last song which is a cover song. "Let the music do the talkin'" is credited to "Aerosmith" but is actually a Joe Perry penned song that he wrote and recorded on a solo album when Aerosmith was broken up and then re-recorded with Aerosmith on the "Done with Mirrors" LP that was released right before "Permanant Vacation". Enough about Aerosmith though..the Konks make this song their own and they definatley own it after just one listen. - Music Filter

Nice and sordid rock 'n' roll punk from these sexy and dangerous girls. They're attractive ladies but you sure get the impression that you shouldn't fuck with them lest you should get a switchblade stabbing. They kinda remind me of the CEDAR STREET SLUTS but a million times better. They blend straight '70s punk rock with Rock 'N' Roll and throw in some wonderfully melodic pop with a heap of sexy hostility and an attitude that draws you in until you get right up close and then you get kicked in the balls... but you go back for more and more. There are a hell of a lot of good female punk rock bands surfacing at the moment and HELL ON HEELS are right at the top of that very attractive pile because they are so natural. They keep their eye-catching femininity very obvious and introduce risk, danger and desire. They are cute and hazardous at the same time and boy does that work for me. - Marco / No Front Teeth (UK)

With The Donnas moving away from their punk image towards a more classic, hard rock sound on last year's Gold Metal, that leaves an opening for a new group of chicks looking to belt out two minute bursts of pissed off guitar rock backed by enough 'heys' and 'hos' to keep Joey Ramone's head bobbin' in the great beyond. Enter Hell On Heels. What this self-titled release may lack in diversity and sophistication, it makes up for in sheer energy and catchy riffs. With their black leather and rockabilly belts and scarves, they look like groupies from a Social Distortion show, but Hell On Heels back up the digs with eleven punchy, snarling tracks that combine catchy pop harmonies with dead on punk riffs. Some of the tracks may blend together after repeated listens, but let's be honest; this brand of punk rock has never been about sonic diversity, even for the great ones. Did 'I Wanna Be Sedated' really sound that much different than 'Blitzkrieg Bop'? Standouts include 'Ain't So Cool' with its 50s-ish 'sha la las' and 'Pretender' with a drum intro straight out of Billy Idol that evolves into a rocking kiss-off song that lets the girls unleash their venom inside a simple yet catchy rock riff. The truth is though, if you like one song on this disc, it's a pretty sure bet you'll like em' all. "My Kind of Trouble" is more of a slow burn, but rocks just as hard as the others. The backing vocals closely resemble the aforementioned Donnas, but the song itself echoes The Ramones more closely. Lead singer Paula Monarch adds a nice touch of punk rock sneer into her perfectly suited vocals. She carries off the image of Hell On Heels as a potential badass opening band for an all-female act like The Go-Gos. It might be a fun bill, but I bet they would kick Belinda Carlisle's ass after every show. - Jeff Cambron / Sonic Slang

March 17, 2004 the Phoenix New Times

On a drag queen night at a downtown Phoenix gay-boy watering hole not long ago, four biological females walked in the door, dressed in leather and fishnets with multicolored hair and studded belts. As they passed the makeshift stage inside Amsterdam, a tall African-American queen in a shrink-wrapped-on dress named Chantal stopped everything to squeal at the four girls, hugging each one. Then Chantal pulled them up in front of the crowd, announcing, "These are my girls, they're in a band called Hell on Heels, and they just got a record deal -- aren't they fabulous?"

The crowd went wild.

That chick may have been a dude, but even the drag queens have one thing straight -- the members of Hell on Heels are four bad-ass rocker chicks with an enviable record deal and enough fabulousness to make a six-foot-tall she-man salivate.

Hell on Heels is everywhere lately, from Fox News to Rain on Central to SMoCA Nights, and there's a damn good reason why. The members of this girl band are torchbearers for all the qualities that you love punk rock for -- attitude tempered with sweetness, smart songs about simple things, and a fashion sense the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would envy.

The girls -- guitarist and vocalist Paula Monarch, bassist and vocalist Chela Rose Fox, guitarist and vocalist Katie Rose, and drummer Kristin Machynski -- have only played their hooky power-punk together since fall of last year, but in its short existence Hell on Heels has already secured a three-record deal with legendary indie label Bomp!. The girls head to Seattle at the end of April to record their debut album with legendary rock producer Jack Endino (who recorded Nirvana and Mudhoney, among others), due out in July of this year.

A few weeks after the girls sashayed across Amsterdam's stage, Greg Shaw, the owner of Bomp! Records, was in town from L.A. to finalize a contract with Hell on Heels and watch the girls rock out at the Emerald Lounge and the Rogue on consecutive nights. Shaw started Bomp! in 1974, making it one of the oldest surviving independent record labels, and in the interim Bomp! has released or reissued records by Iggy Pop, Stiv Bators and Dead Boys, the Germs, and more recently the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Warlocks.

"I've been looking around for a few really special bands to get the new millennium going with, and they really fit the bill," Shaw told me recently.

Record deals like the one Shaw struck with Hell on Heels don't happen by accident. It's a delicate alchemy of sweat, talent, persistence -- and making the right friends. Shaw met the girls through Phoenix punk legend Jeff Dahl, who had recorded both of the previous bands the girls were in -- Paula and Chela when they were in the Peeps, and Kristin and Katie when they played with the Tempe Tramps.

"I was prepared to be kind of skeptical," Shaw says, recalling the first time he went to see the girls play in Los Angeles. "Some girls, if they looked like that, would be really trying too hard, and it wouldn't be natural. I was afraid of that, that they would be biker chicks or something."

Shaw's fears dissipated once he met Monarch, et al. "They turned out to be such really nice, genuine people -- I won't work with anyone I can't be friends with, I can't do anything cynically," he says. "They were people I personally liked and got along with, and they were bright and very aware of what they were doing and how they're manipulating their images and the music itself was completely there."

Hell on Heels recently played an unlikely gig at one of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Arts' SMoCA Nights parties. The girls set up in a white boxy room decorated with melancholic watercolors by Philip C. Curtis, while the curious onlookers who wandered in tried to figure out what to make of these punk rock girls with guitars. As they plugged into their amps, Chela announced to the security guard that one of their favorite onstage gimmicks was smashing art with their instruments. These girls are so charming that even the guard laughed. It was a welcome dose of attitude compared to the staid DJs the museum often hosts.

After that, the girls were off on a tear, inspiring some observers, including a fiftyish-looking guy with a long gray ponytail, to start shaking their asses. The rest of the crowd gathered along the perimeter of the gallery bobbed their heads as they took in the Hell on Heels experience.

The girls' sound is an amalgamation of Joan Jett, '70s girl band the Runaways, and riot grrrl outfit Bratmobile. They play classic punk rock with heavy pop hooks, power pop injected with sass and attitude, songs about girl fights and brand-new boyfriends.

"We write songs about everything -- dying young, sex, makeup, boys, girls that mess with our boys, each other," Monarch says with a laugh.

If the description sounds perilously close to that of novelty revivalists the Donnas, apologies are in order. When asked to differentiate between Hell on Heels and the Donnas, Shaw first spits out, "Uh, [Hell on Hells are] pretty. The only reason the Donnas are successful I think is because there's a lot of geeky-looking guys who think they might stand a chance of going out with geeky-looking girls. But I never liked any of those bands. I didn't like Babes in Toyland, the Lunachicks, that whole wave of them -- they were getting by on being chicks, and not especially good-looking chicks. There's plenty of novelty acts like that around, that wouldn't interest me. I want the real thing -- I think these girls are the real thing."

There's no doubt that the girls are the real thing. You can see how comfortable they are in their roles onstage, joking with the audience and each other, grinning at each other while they play, all the time making it seem quite effortless. In fact, it's often apparent that they're having more fun onstage than the drunken audiences they're entertaining.

It's nearly impossible to get anywhere in the music business without a patron to guide you on your way, and that's exactly what Shaw intends to be for the Valley's toughest, sassiest girl band. "I feel the same way Phil Spector must have felt when he saw the Ronettes," he says. "I'm not Phil Spector, but I know there's something there that can be taken further than, for instance, what the Peeps were able to do. I think they've got it together this time."

Shaw's enthusiasm and faith in the girls is evident by the record contract he offered them -- three records over the course of three years, rare for a label like Bomp!. "I would like the chance to take a long-term approach and have separate increasingly audacious goals for each record," he says. "We'll do the indie thing, take it as far as it can go on the indie thing, and then I would like to pass them off to somebody in the industry. I could help to negotiate the deal for them to be sure they get a good deal and not be working with any rip-off weasels, and just kind of be their godfather. That's my long-range sort of hazy idea. Make them an underground sensation and then steer them further down the road."

Meanwhile, the girls of Hell on Heels aren't taking anything for granted. Sitting around a fire in the backyard of Paula Monarch's downtown Phoenix home, which doubles as the girls' practice space, they're giddy but humble about their recent accomplishments. "We have accomplished a lot [of our goals] because we got on Bomp!," Monarch tells me.

"I've never had more fun in my life, that's all I know," Katie Rose adds.

It's the girls' work ethic that's propelled them further than most local bands in such a brief period of time. They normally spend five nights a week writing songs and practicing, and they play at local bars several times a month. The four are obviously the best of friends, bound together not just by common musical ground but also by a pervasive and perverted sense of humor. It's not long into our backyard interview until the conversation devolves to talk of bowel movements and synchronized menstrual cycles.

The girls of Hell on Heels are unfortunately bound to meet haters who attribute their success to their gender, but anyone who thinks they're succeeding on good looks and girl-band novelty alone is dead wrong.

"There's people who say the only reason we get anything is 'cause we're girls," Monarch tells me. "Fine, then don't fucking listen to us. I'm doing this because I love playing guitar, I love singing, and I love hanging out with them. I'm having fun."