Margarita Madness At The Purple People Bridge : May 17th

Sound Advice: She Wants Revenge with Raw Fabrics (Dec. 9)

She Wants Revenge celebrates the 10th anniversary of their debut album at the Woodward Theater.

Dec 7, 2016 at 10:49 am

[
          {
            "name": "GPT - Leaderboard - Inline - Content",
            "component": "16925999",
            "insertPoint": "5th",
            "startingPoint": "3",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "3",
            "maxInsertions": 100
          }
          
        ]

click to enlarge

Photo: Michael Muller

She Wants Revenge

In the early to mid-’00s, enough bands (from both the U.S. and the U.K.) that showed the influence of seminal ’80s Post Punk in their music had emerged that the label “Post Punk revival” was created. Of course, bands like The Killers, Bloc Party, Interpol and She Wants Revenge have pretty disparate sounds. Some groups were particularly linked to Joy Division’s dark, icy vibe, but unlike Interpol, She Wants Revenge’s comparisons to that band were largely vicious and dismissive. When the band’s self-titled debut was released, She Wants Revenge was deemed a straight-up rip off by some critics. Perhaps it was due to how certain groups addressed the comparisons. While Interpol’s singer famously claimed he had never even heard Joy Division, She Wants Revenge’s driving creative forces — singer/guitarist Justin Warfield and programmer/multi-instrumentalist Adam Bravin — didn’t run away from their love of influential bands like The Cure, Bauhaus and, yes, Joy Division.

The critical attacks didn’t stop the Electronic-tinged, Goth-touched Darkwave group from building a loyal audience. And She Wants Revenge got a more important nod of approval by some of those early Post Punk influences themselves, doing tour dates with the likes of Depeche Mode and Echo and the Bunnymen.

The band released two more albums — 2007’s This Is Forever and 2011’s Valleyheart — before the musicians placed She Wants Revenge on permanent hiatus in 2012. Warfield and Bravin had other things to explore, working with other artists and projects. Warfield, who first came to public attention with a great, trippy 1993 Hip Hop album called My Field Trip to Planet 9 (featuring production by the legendary Prince Paul) and has sung on tracks by artists like The Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method, worked on a film and did production projects. Meanwhile, Bravin (who was the DJ in Crazy Town before DJ AM) got a sweet gig as Barack Obama’s go-to DJ for events throughout the president’s two terms.

The band decided to reunite, first for a few shows and then a full-fledged tour, in honor of its debut album’s 10th anniversary. Its music also had experienced a revival that led to new fans discovering She Wants Revenge’s music. In 2015, the group’s early hit “Tear You Apart” was featured prominently in a scene from American Horror Story: Hotel’s season premiere, which starred a fan of the band’s — Lady Gaga.