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Lights Like Guitars 5:430:00/5:43
GENRES: Post-Punk, Psyche Rock, New Wave, Indie Rock
“Imagine if Kevin Shields had produced the Go Go’s and you’ve got some idea where this Bay Area-based, all-female quartet is coming from..” - Las Vegas Weekly
Excuses For Skipping play post-punk, noise rock using absolutely no synthetic materials or artificial colors. Organically grown on the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District, these women infuse their live performances with sheet metal banging, bike frame clanging and volcanic guitar explosions that send your heart galloping with your hands flying over several hundred horses fleeing the scene of of a shotgun fireworks bonanza. You wont know what hit ya! Girls with guitars sliding around in cars with Robert Smith in a dress and a beautiful catchy mess. Listen to the words.
EFS will release their third album entitled Escape from Earth in March 2024. This 13 song rock opera was recorded at Wild Turkey Recording Studios in Sonoma County, Ca. with producers John Hopen and Khaliq Glover.
PRESS:
“Excuses For Skipping's new album, Tonic For Hysteria, is epic in every sense of the word.”- Wiretap Music.com
“Catchy, melodic, spacey-yet-spikey pop music. And I say “pop” in the best sense of the word- the kind of music that has you humming the chorus in your head for days but still manages to rise above formula and familiarity often associated with pop music these days.” -The Deli Magazine
“Imagine if Kevin Shields had produced the Go Go’s and you’ve got some idea where this Bay Area-based, all-female quartet is coming from..” - LV Weekly
“EFS is the type of band that not only pleases the youthful masses of San Francisco on a regular basis, but also inspires and breeds creativity among their peers; a real group of renaissance musicians...” -Brian Ball, Music Editor, WomensRadio.com
HISTORY:
The year is 1997. Tammy Fortin and Linda Moody head into a San Francisco garage with piano guts, drum sticks, a Boss RV-2 pedal and a Tascam 424 . They came out with a cassette tape and a vision for their next musical collaboration which would last for more than a decade.
Moody’s catchy vocal arrangements and pop sensibilities join forces with Fortin’s instinct for chaos and penchant for abstract guitar sounds to create melodic songs undeniably rich in both texture and meaning.
In 2007, Excuses For Skipping released their critically acclaimed full-length album, Out Of Work Early, produced by Tony Espinoza. The LA Music Awards nominated the song Gravity as “Best Single Of The Year.” In 2011, they released their second album "Tonic For Hysteria" which departs sonically from their debut with a raw sound that is both powerful and vulnerable. It was ranked #1 in Deli Magazine's "Year End Best Of SF" poll for emerging artists.
Their live performance is powerful and unpredictable, complete with sheet metal banging, bike frame clanging and volcanic guitar explosions. Las Vegas Weekly nailed it by stating “Imagine if Kevin Shields produced the Go Go’s and you’ll have some idea of where this SF based quartet is coming from.”
In 2012, lead guitarist Tammy Fortin moved to Michigan and the band went on hiatus. But as happens with great creative partnerships, Fortin was drawn back to the Bay Area years later, and an invitation from producer John Hopen to record at his studio seemed like fate intervening. Bassist Wendy Brents and drummer Robert Ryan met Fortin and Moody in Sonoma county for this momentous musical reunion.
The result of this impromptu recording session, Escape from Earth, set to be released March 2024, is a 13 song concept album which strikes a particularly zeitgeisty note as a necessary conversation with the next generation.
Members: Excuses for Skipping are: Linda Moody (vox, guitar, keys, percussion), Tammy Fortin (guitars, vox, keys), Tori Fulkerson-Jones (bass) and Robbie Ryan (drums)
The first drummer, Chip Dalby and bassist Jen Aldrich joined in 2004. Dalby and Aldrich left the band in 2005. Allison Duke joins in on drums and Wendy Brents on bass in 2006. Duke leaves the band in 2008 and is replaced by drummer Ezekiel Ruddick and then Robert James Ryan, Moody's childhood friend. Wendy Brents moves to Baltimore and Tori Fulkerson-Jones joins on bass in 2017.