Impact Weekly

June 2004

Girlush Figure • Rotten To The Core • Rodent Popsicle Records • From the opening "One Two Fuck You" you will get the idea that these are not girls who will be touring with Britney Spears. This is old school, stripped down, raunchy, raw punk. Blood and guts and pounding drums and aggression make this disc what it is. It is like an auditory punch in the face. (MK)

Maximum Rock n Roll
January 2003

Girlush Figure / Drunken War - split 7"
Who are these women? They fucking kill! GIRLUSH FIGURE says: "lies underneath the sweet tooth of the enemy," which is enough for me, but then the rest of the song was also amazing. Super-heavy chugging punk, without a bit of heavy metal. They also throw in some hip shaking beats for those who like ringing their bondage belts. (JA)

The HMD

April 2002

Girlush Figure "Target You" CD TARGET YOU - How can one really review an album from 3 chicks that can kick your ass? Simple. NO BULLSHIT!! That's what this album is all about. Pop-Punk. You can be serious and you can have fun as well! That's exactly what these wild ass gals have done w/ their debut album, TARGET YOU. Upon the initial contact with the disc, 2 things came to mind: 1. Interesting cover of them in gangster suits pointing their "heaters" at you. Hence the title, "Target You". The back of the cover shows their true target and they hit the mark. Appears to be a girl on the grass shot to death. As you scan down you see the song titles. The first cut says it all. "Assassination Of A Beauty Queen". Hmmm.... nuff said? and 2. If you're a guy, wondering if they could be just as "lethal" in their musical offering as well. Bitch Rock dude! The names themselves leave you with something to ponder about. Squeaky (Guitar/Vocals), Pigpen (Bass/Vocals) and Donna (Drums/Vocals/Trumpet). After a couple of spins of this disc, you wanna join their cause. Whatever their cause may be. It doesn't matter. You'll be singing to these wild and somewhat creative punk licks and lyrics in no time! Helps to save the dying art of the air-guitar! Kudos! The opening cut, the afformentioned, "Assassination Of A Beauty Queen" is pure pop-punk to the hilt. Obviously you now know what you're in for! The bands' lyrics are quite entertaining. Some are catch phrases that I use from time to time as well. I rolled when I opened up their case and saw excerpts of their songs on the inner back cover. Gotta love it! The song itself is about a popular chick who befriends a lesser known girl and keeps it a secret. "What would Daddy think?" And the result is the title. Track 2, "I Am You", is my choice cut. This song kicks ass with it's numerous start/stop riffs that are tight as hell! The overdubs of guitar add to Squeaky's licks and gives it a little more flavor. I love this cut about a trying to run from yourself. I find myself air-riffing this cut everytime I hear it. Pure punk! "Hate System", is another track about having to conform into a certain group and her saying, "Fuck your overrated society" and "...must look like Barbie". Another catchy lyric, "Gonna get a tan. Gonna go fuck the band. I'll do anything to get what I want." She doesn't want to be a part of that bullshit. Can't say that I'd blame her either. The title track, "Target You", vocally has some good production work here w/ some minor effects. The guitar seems a little less in the front but has some good chord changes after the second chorus. The only bad point to make is the track seems to run out of steam and die. Sad too. "Night At The Comet" must've been based on a true story it seems of a girl who walked home and was murdered and raped. Lyrically is structured very nicely, but is sometimes hard to listen to by the 3 chord guitar riffs. Shows some serious potential for them as song writers. Good break again before the end of the song. They can really come up with some killer licks if they wanted to. That's the only problem with punk music. K.eep I.t S.imple S.tupid "Miss Fuck You" , Self explanatory! Gotta listen to this shit yourself to see what I mean. A "death do us part" song to the band itself. "Scenester" was a shocking little cut at first. The opening notes from Pigpen's bass and Donna's drums were awefully similar to The Doors' "L.A. Woman". Lyrically, these girls don't take shit from the "in-crowd" bitches that go around. "There go those virgin whores again", need I say more? The song that has the most crossover opportunity would have to be "FSU". Almost ballad-y, for lack of a better term. If they cut the punk riffs down just a bit, it would have a killer feel to it! But we are talking about GF here. These gals do whatever they want. DUH! "Crazy Train", seems to have the "filler-track" feel until you listen to it a little more. Gets better as you groove on it a bit. "Voodoo Doll" closes the album with one last stab and gets straight to the "point". The biggest surprise is the bonus cut. A hidden track at the end w/ Donna doin' "The Star Spangled Banner". Nice touch! You go girl! Overall, TARGET YOU is a good kick ass album from a kick ass chick band!! NUFF SAID!! Can't wait till their next release! ST 4/2002

Blank Generation

December 2001

Girlush Figure "Target You" CD Ran across this band when I played an opening slot for them with Zero Crag. They totally took me by surprise as many other bands have this year. I’m not too sure how they really took me personally though because I met the bassist through a old Dayton, Ohio friend and one of the first things that come out of my mouth was pointing out the fact that they were selling thong panties as part of their merchandise and I asked, "Do you have those in 2X?" Later that night the ‘Figure rocked out and had me searching for their merch agent to buy a CD long before their set ended because I was afraid, for some reason (and I tend to do this often), they would run out of copies and I wouldn’t get one. Target You is chock full of fem-angst like combining the sounds of Kleenex/Liliput with that of Bikini Kill. Hard. Driving. Fast. Loud. I’m totally surprised Kill Rock stars hasn’t gotten a hold of this band yet, it’s right up their alley! This CD features ten tracks of actual songs clocking in at nearly 29 minutes worth of music with a eleventh track being hummed version of "The Star Spangled Banner", which I couldn’t figure out WHY it appeared on the disc. It left me only asking questions-good job! "Scenester", "Target You", "Miss Fuck You".... Don’t be too surprised if this CD don’t end up in my Blank Generation year in Review. Hailing from Virginia I have a feeling that you, the humble Blank Generation viewer haven’t heard the last of me spouting about the greatness of the ‘Figure.... I hope this band is around for a long long time and I hope they continue to release music and play shows that knock people for loops. (SAB)

Quote -
Found: Sept. 13 2001 @ dcska.com message board by Sarcastro rankin' rudie

But the best band I saw was Girlush Figure. Their guitarist is about the toughest girl I've ever seen in my life and they totally ripped through their set.

Richmond Music Journal
July 2001

Girlush Figure is bitch rock, a three piece girl group with attitude. They dressed like cheerleaders and punked out the room, no holds barred. They're raw with some cute choreography. Submissive boys looked intimidated and their girlfriends bounced and smiled. The music was threatening. Someone yelled, "You chicks are too real," and the guitar player shot back, "Lick my ass if you don't dig this shit." They are energetic and original. They sold panties with the bands name on them and their CD, "Target You." The panties fit me perfectly. I spent the best $5 in a long time. -Peggy Allen

Focus
May/June 2001

Not all woman in todays music are doing the flavor nof the month routine, or using the soul searching Lilith Fair approach. Girlush Figure is a 3 piece girl band from Richmond, Virginia spewing a minimalist pop punk sound. What was once an exclusive boys club, is now being invaded by a growing number of indie female artist. Where the Bangles walked like Eqyptians, bands like Girlush Figure cover topics concerning loser boyfriends, being unpopular, and the glass ceiling. Girlush Figure is made up of Squeaky on guitar, Pigpen on bass and the Captain on drums. With their debut CD "Target You", there is a hint of Hole with musical attitude similar to the New York Dolls. But this is more than a novelty act. Regarded as a strong live draw, these 3 ladies have been making the rounds nationally filling venues from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Followed by favorable reviews. Together for over a year this band already has a 4 week spring tour lined up covering the Midwest with a major label release. Girlush Figure doesn't pretend to be virtuosos. Their songs are from the gut, pure and emotional. For these 3 young ladies their timing could have never been better, with the current local musical atmosphere being flooded with faceless death and metal bands. And those trying to be the next Korn, they have no problem standing out. It's easy for girl bands to use sex or shock value to create a buzz. But this band avoids the obvious. Live, the band has a strong stage presence with a theatrical flair. Whether dressed in formal ball gowns, or sarcastically wearing tutus and tiaras. Squeaky leads the band by banging out basic chord changes and flashes an impish smile. The Captains drumming is uncontrollable, but its hard not to watch this musical train wreck. At a recent Thursday night show at Swingers, in the bottom, Girlush Figure took the stage at a mid night to a standing room only crowd, who sang along right from the opening chords. Girlush Figure isn't calculated or planned, the whole package works because its natural. I recommend taking a few of your friends and going to see Girlush Figure one night, you will be surprised the talent these 3 girls posses.

Richmond Music Journal
June 2001

Grrr. I'm not sure what that means. Girlush Figure uses it on their lyric snippets scattered on the back of their CD, "Target You." I get the feeling it means men beware, you are the target. I think the three people on the cover are women but its hard to tell when you're staring down the barrels of the three guns they have pointed at you, and I'm pretty sure the body on the ground with hands cuffed and blood on his shirt is a guy, a very unlucky guy. They also seem perturbed with society's "worthless plan," but I bet they think that plan was thought up by the good-old-boy network. The drums and electric guitar are in a race to finish 10 songs in under 25 minutes and slow down just enough to pick out some pretty good licksto accompany their angry broad singing, which is even more scary because I can't understand everything they're screaming. A lone trumpet plays the "Star Spangled Banner" at the end, taps for the male sex. So what are they singing? Some of the lyrics they chose to print are: "Trying to get the pretty grrrls in the back of their big trucks," "this one is for all you fuckin' rednecks," "I'm ready for some fuckin' revenge," "What would daddy think?" What would daddy think?! We's probably too scared to say a word. -Walter Boelt

Beautiful Rage
April 2001

This band is utterly amazing! I played The GirlsRock! Festival in New Orleans and these three kittens were there. They approached the stage with the confidence of a lion and roared through a 30 minute set with like the wind. I seen The Captain on Bourbon Street in a Sleater Kinney shirt so...ya know...she was cool in my eyes :P But the next night when I played the show and I knew they were gonna play...I had a feeling they would blow everyone away...and they did. Squeaky and PigPen came out in prom dresses, tiaras, bruised glitter faces and armed with guitars, while Donna, wearing a tux flipped the bird to a friendly fan from back home. I was impressed already and they hadnt even began. Then, right of the bat they started playing and the whole place was moving to their edgy* punk songs .I detected a strong Pretty on The Inside influence...They must be Hole fans! Then they played *Miss Fuck You* The best fucking song in the world!! I was getting chills witnessing their passion and fury. I suggest going to the site and buying their tape "Target You" Only 7$ and truly a great band!

Punchline
April 26 2001

The gals in Girlush Figure prove that looks are definitely deceiving: they might look innocent in their tutus, glitter & smiling faces, but underneath those sweet smiles lie plenty of angst & ferociousness. In front of a crowd their inner riot grrrls come out kicking & screaming, proving themselves formidable when face with any other band of the male persuasion.