On a rainy, chilly, dismal Saturday night, I’m sitting with Kate and Madge at Isle of Skye in Williamsburg working on our second round of scotches. I had met them briefly when they played our CMJ showcase a week earlier.
“That was our first acoustic attempt.” Guitarist/singer Madge says with a laugh. “We’d never even played our songs acoustic before. Although we had a blast and it was a great excuse for Kate to buy an acoustic bass”.
I wanted to become a little more familiar with the band since they’ll be playing the Pancakes & Whiskey show on my birthday in a week. We had planned on hanging out at the bar and talking shop, but quickly found ourselves talking about how disappointing the establishment was thus far- the bartender seemed to be blasting the music about thirty decibels too loud and every time a good song came on (The Stooges, Arctic Monkeys, Beatles) he’d decide to skip the song for a less favorable tune amongst the group.
Formed in 2012, Whiskey Bitches base their punk rock sound from the rock music they grew up listening to and still love. One think to know right off the bat with these girls is that they’re the real deal, out until 3am most nights of the week dancing to their favorite bands or leaving their mark at their favorite bars, drinking an abundance of whiskey and not taking any shit from anyone alone the way.
“I don’t leave home without this bad boy.” Says Madge as she whips out a nice sized knife from her pocket.
“Can I tell my favorite story?” she asked laughing with Kate, who automatically knew what she was referring to. “This is my Very Proud of Kate story. She’s way more conservative than I am, but we’re at a bar one night seeing Sunshine Gun Club and you know how there’s always that one person in the middle of the fucking mosh pit, right in front of the stage who refuses to move and doesn’t want anyone to touch them? There was this one asshole right in the front that just keeps giving dirty, annoyed looks over her shoulder. So Kate’s jumping around and apparently splashes some of her beer on this chick. This girl turns around and takes Kate’s beer and throws it at her face! (Laughs) She gives me a look like ‘Madge did you just see that?’ I took one step forward and before I can do anything Kate just slaps the girls beer into her face! That girl was so pissed she throws the rest of it at me and tries to hit me. I’ve never been so proud of Kate in my life.”
Whiskey bitches may sound and act like a punk band on stage (and off). While that may be true musically, there’re more meaning and more pop hooks behind their songs than just traditional punk rock with this band.
“You know what our genre is?” Madge declared. “It’s Kate, Madge, whiskey, pop, beats up a girl at a bar and makes out with boys, boozy brunches, boozy bitches. How about not giving a FUCK about anything except getting what you want out of life.”
“Basically the story of our lives” laughs Kate.
We spent the next hour talking fun dive bars, Madge’s intense stage fright (which she’s learned how to handle pretty well), and our favorite venues to catch a show. Theirs is Shea Stadium, with the hopes of one day getting onto the stage to perform at Bowery Ballroom. We could only stay at Isle of Skye for so long before we wanted to blow our brains out so we bundled up and made our way to Turkey’s Nest for some of their house specialty margaritas. There of course we had to talk about our favorite albums from growing up, from Blink 182, to Foo Fighters, to Madge seeing Paramore when they were a new band and telling everyone they were about to blow up. There’s a lot of love for pop music in this band, you can hear it songs of there like ‘Cookies’ and ‘Money Gone Drinking’ with riffs and choruses that kids can sing and hum along to.
“I think when our audience starts to define itself and it’s not going to be many people my age, I can see it being a bit younger, like teenagers and kids in high school. This is totally the kind of band I would’ve LOVED to have seen and been in back when I was in high school.”
You can tell that these two really have a deep love and appreciation for rock music. So it was no surprise that once we headed to Brooklyn Bazaar to catch the So So Glos headline that after the obligatory stop at the bar for some bourbon, that these girls were right up front by the stage the entire night. After a run-in with a good friend of mine out on the smoking patio and a few hits of the good stuff, I was on the level along with the pretty packed house there to see the Glos.
Any show night in Brooklyn isn’t complete without an end of the night trip to The Levee. Alas, all the whiskey built up throughout the night had taken its toll on me, forcing me to wave the white flag after just a few sips of my PBR and only a couple handfuls of cheesepuffs. Spending a night out with the Whiskey Bitches had proved to chew me up and spit me out. I was ready for the friendly confines of my bed when Madge asked me what her game plan for the night should be, since she’s got to be up by 6am, party all night or at least try to get a few hours of sleep.
Yup, these girls live up to their band name perfectly. Earlier in the night we talked about how in another universe their name would be the Giggly Bitches instead. Spending all night out to drink whiskey and see a great band when you’ve got work at 6am seems to earn these girls their stripes as one of Brooklyn’s most badass bands. I wonder what a night out when them is like when they don’t have to wake up by 5am.
Be sure to catch the Whiskey Bitches at Brooklyn Night Bazaar this Saturday (11-15-14)!
Article by: Tom Shackleford
