BAND REVIEW | “All Girl Summer Fun Band” | Minimum Rock + Roll #3
link: http://reflectivetapesdiy.tumblr.com/post/148310408847/minimum-rock-and-roll-3-is-now-available

If you’re in the mood for early 00s twee, the Oregon group All Girl Summer Fun Band totally lives up to its name. Band members cite musical influences from Dinosaur Jr and Guided by Voices to the Grease Soundtrack, and the result is something like if the Shangri-la’s were reincarnated as a modern-day PNW garage band.

The All Girl Summer Fun Band started in Portland in 1998 when founding member Kim Baxter gave Jen Sbragia a tape of her band at a Softies show. An instant friendship formed when Kim introduced Jen to two of her other friends, Kathy Foster and Ari Douangpanya. They released four records on indie labels: All Girl Summer Fun Band (2002), 2 (2003), Summer of 98 (2003), and All Girl Summer Fun Band & Cars Can Be Blue (2009). Their last full album — Looking Into It — was released in ’08 on their own label, AGSFB Music.

Although Ari left the band in ’04, the remaining members are still together and played a reunion show in January 2016 in Portland. Members of the band also have worked at Portland’s Rock ‘N Roll Camp For Girls — an annual summer camp that “builds girls’ self-esteem through music creation and performance.”

Some standout tracks to sample:

“Car Trouble.” Contains this memorable chorus about a Very Bad Day: “He broke my heart/My car won’t start.”
“Samantha Secret Agent.” A silly theme-tune takeoff about stealing a hypothetical Jane Bond’s heart.
“Later Operator.” The girls compare the failings of their respective boyfriends — one “rarely bathes” — but each concede that he’s a “damn good … later operator.”
“Down South, 10 Hours, I-5.” A sunshine-sweet song about a roadtrip with the girls. “There’s no place I’d rather be,” they sing, and it feels just about as real as a pop song can get.