Photo taken at Noir Leather
by Jacalyn Selinsky
Featured Band
Queen Bee
Ouch, that hurts... but damn I like it! In a world of watered down, wannabe, overly techno sounding crap, it's a beautiful thing to find yourself stung by the sounds and image of Queen Bee. Hailing from the lovely grime of Detroit, Michigan, punk veteran Karen Neal serves up some of the sexiest raunch-rock to be found. More than just the music or a simple character, Karen's over the top attitude and performances bring together the sounds and provocative imagery of Queen Bee into an utterly libido shattering blow. After being pointed to her site I eagerly awaited my downloads of "Fine", "Its Alive", and "Hot Alot" and was far from disappointed. "Fine" carries a sultry combination of slithery verse rythms and sexy falsetto vocals, then breaks into near old-school punk feel for the chorus. "It's Alive" manages to keep a solid combination of punk-funk groove and interesting vocals that keep your attention held firmly in place. By far, though, the strongest, most addicting of the three is "Hot Alot". Lords of Acid could stand to take a few pointers from this one. It's sexy, catchy, playful and in your face, all while maintaining a level of pure ballsiness that makes most male fronted bands out right now look like theirs haven't even dropped yet. If you like it steamy and aggressive, Queen Bee is definitely worth your time. Review by Les Garner