No Novelties

Fea is the continued ferocity of Girl In A Coma's Phanie Diaz and Jenn Alva, joined by Letty Martinez and Sofi Lopez. Signed to Joan Jett's Blackheart Records, the San Antonio based band is releasing their sophomore album `No Novelties'-- A new series of snapshots from their energetic and unfiltered perspective. The band playfully explores hot button topics, from sexism in the music world to the toxicity of social media, in their trademark style of Riot Grrrl Chicana Punk. Producer Alice Bag, a trailblazer from the first wave of Los Angeles punk, lends expert arrangements and a complimentary point of view."Itch" is a strong kickoff, detailing the band's reverence for the "deliciously dirty" life on the road. "ICU" touches on toxic relationships. The strongly melodic "Ya Se" has a call and response that, while sung entirely in Spanish, will have all audiences singing along. "Merde" charmingly mixes in some French.`No Novelties' is imbued with what it feels like to be unapologetically female. "Red" battles the stigma of the menstrual cycle. A spirited, hard-hitting interpretation of Gloria Trevi's 1991 feminist pop rock anthem "Pelo Suelto" relays, "I like wearing my hair down / Even if they always see me with tangles / I like everything that's sincere / I'm real and can't be changed."The name Fea, which translates from Spanish to "ugly," is not a baseless proclamation. Closing track "Girl Band" recounts one of the many times the band had to play it cool in the face of chauvinism. "A random man told me that we aren't really hot or good-looking, but that our music was pretty cool for a girl band," recounts Martinez. Through the song they are able to answer back, "We are not a novelty."Fea : No Novelties : LP, standard black vinyl