Louisa Rachel Solomon
Encyclopedia
Louisa Rachel Solomon is the lead singer of The Shondes
, an indie
punk band from Brooklyn, NY. Solomon is outspoken about being a Jewish musician and opposing the occupation of Palestine. She is best known for her emotional live performance, and has been called "a front-woman to fear and fall in love with."
punk band called Lucky Tiger, who released several cassettes
and one 7" record and performed at Riot Grrrl
conventions in New York City
and Philadelphia in 1996. She also co-founded Pass the Buck Records with her sister Nicole Witte Solomon in 1995, a DIY Cassette
label. In 1999, she formed The Syndicate with Jennie Jeddry, Emily Kramer and Elijah Oberman (also of The Shondes
) and released two albums, The Official Story and Haunted Ground.
The Shondes
The Shondes are an indie punk band from Brooklyn, NY, best known for their brand of pop-rock, featuring Jewish influences and radical political messages, and for organizing and performing at benefit events for organizations such as Birthright Unplugged, Jews Against the Occupation, and The Sylvia...
, an indie
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
punk band from Brooklyn, NY. Solomon is outspoken about being a Jewish musician and opposing the occupation of Palestine. She is best known for her emotional live performance, and has been called "a front-woman to fear and fall in love with."
Critical response
- "Lead singer Louisa Solomon steps out of the role of the one who has been wronged, and back into that of the unrepentant sinner, which suits her better. She’s her old self again, on the loose and in top form in her performance as a punk rock femme fatale. Not the ersatz Suicide Girls kind of femme fatale either, she’s the real kind that most people couldn’t possibly hope to handle. She creates the feeling that the stage is the safest place for her — and for all concerned. At any given moment she might be giving off a little Dolly Parton or Joan Jett vibe, but underneath it, and at all times, her own voice and personality are both growing so dominant and distinct that they seem to have their own gravitational pull." -- MTV Iggy
- "lead vocalist and bass player Louisa Solomon anchors and drives the band with a fury and finesse few frontwomen have these days." --Three Imaginary Girls
- "Singer and bass player Louisa Solomon is the terrifying and alluring siren in this mess of nautical metaphors and similes I'm making, especially when belting lines like 'I never knew you could be so cowardly/ Now I'm always stuck in fucking Miami.' She mixes the cold fire of Rainer Maria's Caithlin de Marrais with the hearty women's music warmth of Tracy Chapman or Indigo Girls." --Stomp and Stammer
- ...no one in the band treated their instrument gently this past Saturday night on one of the last stops of a tour that started in August. All four members of the ShondesThe ShondesThe Shondes are an indie punk band from Brooklyn, NY, best known for their brand of pop-rock, featuring Jewish influences and radical political messages, and for organizing and performing at benefit events for organizations such as Birthright Unplugged, Jews Against the Occupation, and The Sylvia...
treated their Yiddish and classical–influenced post-punk like a heavy object to be lifted and carried. This was especially true of bassist and lead vocalist Louisa Rachel Solomon, who charged at the mic as if to push the song forward with her body. --Venus Zine
- Louisa Rachel Solomon’s voice is a char-broiled mix of Patti SmithPatti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
and new wave, with a frosty injection of Amy Lee for good measure. -- Amplifier Magazine
- Louisa Rachel Solomon's vocals are strong, nimble and graceful on the band's self-released debut, which sees both complex song structures intertwined with direct, inquisitive lyrics. --CMJ
- On the band's debut album, The Red Sea, they sing political songs about New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and their home borough of Brooklyn, as well as about high expectations for love and life. Fans of Sleater-KinneySleater-KinneySleater-Kinney was an alternative rock band from Portland, Oregon that formed in 1994. Originally formed in Olympia, Washington, the group's name is derived from Sleater-Kinney Road, Interstate 5 off ramp #108 in Lacey, Washington, the location of one of their early practice spaces. They were a...
will swoon over the ShondesThe ShondesThe Shondes are an indie punk band from Brooklyn, NY, best known for their brand of pop-rock, featuring Jewish influences and radical political messages, and for organizing and performing at benefit events for organizations such as Birthright Unplugged, Jews Against the Occupation, and The Sylvia...
, especially with vocalist Louisa Rachel Solomon's Corin TuckerCorin TuckerCorin Lisa Tucker is a singer and guitarist, best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney.- Early life :In the early 1990s, Tucker attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she studied film, political economy, and social change...
–like croons about socially conscious living. -- After Ellen
- “Don’t Look Down,” the first track, opens with a rock swagger worthy of Television and a gritty guitar. Louisa Rachel Solomon’s vocals are a bit to digest at first, but as the first key change hits and the power chords enter, her vocals push the songs to their conclusion and establish Solomon as the album’s focal point. As the songs progress, Solomon throws herself into the lyrics like waves against a wall, her voice quivering at the end of each word, choking the last shreds of meaning from every syllable she utters. And right as she sounds like she’s about to break, the band reinvents the song, drops the riff and ups the violin, a move that renews Solomon’s vigor and re-engages the hooks. --Performer Magazine
- The band’s frontwoman, the sinisterly pretty Louisa Rachel Solomon, has a talent for androgynous sass, nailing the exact sound where male becomes female. She campaigns for feminism without once having to resort to a bratty whine, and manages to convey a few other emotions besides noisy man-hate. --The Forward
- Minneapolis City Pages writer Ray CummingsRay CummingsRay Cummings was an American author of science fiction, rated one of the "founding fathers of the science fiction pulp genre". He was born in New York and died in Mount Vernon, New York....
' controversial comment "You probably wouldn't want frontwoman Louisa Soloman [sic] to go down on you in a theater," was met with immediate criticism
History
As a teenager in the mid-late '90s, Solomon played in a riot grrrlRiot grrrl
Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...
punk band called Lucky Tiger, who released several cassettes
Cassette culture
Cassette culture, or the cassette underground , refers to the practices surrounding amateur production and distribution of recorded music that emerged in the late 1970s via home-made audio cassettes...
and one 7" record and performed at Riot Grrrl
Riot grrrl
Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...
conventions in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Philadelphia in 1996. She also co-founded Pass the Buck Records with her sister Nicole Witte Solomon in 1995, a DIY Cassette
Cassette culture
Cassette culture, or the cassette underground , refers to the practices surrounding amateur production and distribution of recorded music that emerged in the late 1970s via home-made audio cassettes...
label. In 1999, she formed The Syndicate with Jennie Jeddry, Emily Kramer and Elijah Oberman (also of The Shondes
The Shondes
The Shondes are an indie punk band from Brooklyn, NY, best known for their brand of pop-rock, featuring Jewish influences and radical political messages, and for organizing and performing at benefit events for organizations such as Birthright Unplugged, Jews Against the Occupation, and The Sylvia...
) and released two albums, The Official Story and Haunted Ground.