Noisettes

“Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)”
from the album What’s the Time Mr. Wolf?
2007
iTunes

MP3 – “Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)”

Don’t be fooled by the “ette” in the name — there’s nothing cute or whimsical about the Noisettes. They are three bad-news London kids who came to knock you out, take your money and blow your mind. Fantastically named singer Shingai Shoniwa is a piece of work for sure, jumping from soulful growls to evil shrieks like a cross between Karen O and Koko Taylor. The guitar-drums-bass lineup takes it back to the stray-cat blues of the early Stones, with Dan Smith’s snarly guitar reminding you they call it “garage rock” because a garage is a great place to get beat up. When they rave up in “Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit),“ they’re untouchable, yet they also explode in brief what-the-hell-was-that anthems like “Iwe” and “Scratch Your Name.” When Shoniwa orders, “Scratch your name into the fabric of this world before you go,” the only regret is that you don’t have a name as cool as hers.