 by Rob van Alstyne
For being the scene that essentially helped birth the riot grrl movement during the late ‘80s in the form of Babes in Toyland, the Twin Cities have had somewhat of a dearth of rockin’ ladies in the house in recent years (the Bleeding Hickeys notably excepted). Thankfully the Mood Swings, a three-quarters X chromosome-only outfit centered around vocalist/guitarist Ashley Prenzlow, have arrived to lend themselves to the rockin’ ladies cause with their years-in-the-making debut album Come On Tell Me. A classic sleaze-rock outfit whose sonic assault is heavy on gnarly riffage and locked-down rhythms, the racket the Mood Swings kick up is so fist-pumpingly fun that thoughts of what genders are pounding away on the instruments quickly become an afterthought.
Download an mp3 of the Mood Swings’ song “The Finest Line.”
 “[The
gender thing] isn’t something we really think about or dwell on as a group,”
explains Prenzlow. “It’s only something we become aware of more
when we play live and see how the crowds react. People tend to be surprised
that we rock and aren’t doing a more folkie kind of thing like they might
stereotypically expect from a group of women. Live it’s pretty much all
super-loud fuzzy guitars. Most of the time people aren’t ready for it
but they end up bobbing their heads
eventually anyway.”
The Mood Swings weren’t always a full-on rock assault, though. Three years
ago they were more of a vague idea floating around in Prenzlow’s head
as she made her first tentative steps into songwriting and tinkering with home
recording. “I’ve been doing the local music thing for a pretty long
time—about seven years—but this was the first project where I actually
started to write my own songs,” says Prenzlow, whose previous experience
includes a stint as bassist with late ‘90s outfit the Meg and occasional
gigs with Vincent Caro’s space pop collective Basement Apartment. “The
Meg broke up before I would have liked and I really just wanted to stay active
and creative. Shortly after starting the whole songwriting process I got this
Digital Performer program on my computer and that really opened everything up.
Making the whole jump from four tracks of sound to 24 was exciting.”
Things continued to move forward for Prenzlow when she hooked up with guitarist
Sally Watson; the two meshed so well that they practiced together in earnest
even before they could settle on a permanent drummer (“We played along
to battery drum tracks for awhile which was fine—until the tracks started
skipping—then we knew we had a problem”). Luckily after moving through
“at least five or six guys” behind the drum kit the duo was introduced
to Laura Bennett and finally found the drummer they were looking for. “We
didn’t know her at all and just met through Peter Anderson [local drumming
ace for Mark Mallman, Kraig Johnson & the Program]. She learned all our
songs immediately and was just a really cool girl; we lucked out.”
 With
a lineup firmly in place the good luck continued for Prenzlow and Co. as they
linked up with Susstones label head/Flower Studios honcho Ed Ackerson to help
shape what would become their first album. “We actually started recording
right around the holidays two years ago,” recalls Prenzlow of the process
that resulted in the jagged 35-minute pixie-stix-rush of rock that is Come
On Tell Me. “We wanted to do something together before we played a
live show. [Laura and Sally] had never played a gig before, I had never played
a show of my own songs. We needed to get a little bit of proper recording under
our belts just to give us the confidence to go out there and play. Then we went
out on a small tour with Kraig Johnson & the Program. We would keep chipping
away at the record piece by piece, playing shows in between. It was cool because
new songs kept being added into the mix and the band got better throughout the
whole thing. We could really appreciate how everything was evolving. I don’t
regret starting it as long ago as we did, but I definitely don’t plan
on making it take this long in the future.”
 Although
Come On Tell Me is undoubtedly heavy on snarling garage rock numbers, Prenzlow’s
clear and pleasing windpipes stay away from screamo territory and there’s
enough convincing stabs at other styles (the placid pop of “Dropped the
Ball” and harmonica rich alt.country shuffle of “Doing What I Do
Today”) to prove the Mood Swings aren’t a one-trick pony. As the
group prepares to drop their debut platter, their days as the best kept secret
and personal favorite among some of the local rock scene’s elite musicians
are soon to be behind them. Prenzlow’s quick to thank the high caliber
help that’s pushed them along the way, though.
“The friendships we have with other musicians in town are really important
to us,” she readily admits as our conversation winds down. “It can
be a bit intimidating at times when your mentor rock friends are people like
Ed [Ackerson] and Gary [Louris, leader of the Jayhawks] who are sort of the
premier players in town. Those guys are kind of the highest level to aspire
towards, but working directly with them [on producing Come On Tell Me]
has been more of a comforting and encouraging thing than anything. Being able
to tour with a group like Kraig Johnson & the Program and see how they work
up close and how important each member is to the overall sound, it’s just
such an inspiration. It was really an amazing experience when we played with
Polara recently [at the Fitzgerald Theater for 89.3 the Current’s “Guest
Session Sundays” program]. To go from not even existing as a band two
years ago to collaborating on stage at the Fitzgerald with musicians of that
caliber, it’s pretty unbelievable to me.” ||
The Mood Swings play the CD release party for Come On Tell Me on Sat., Nov.
12 at the Triple Rock Social Club with special guests The Bleeding Hickeys,
Bridge Club and DJ Marc “The Guv’nor” Mueller. With special
guests Dan Boen, Ed Ackerson, Gary Louris, Jennifer Jurgens and Janey Winterbauer.
9 p.m. $6. 21+. 629 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls. 612-333-7399.
Find out more about the Mood Swings at their official website, TheMoodSwings.com.
Download an mp3 of the Mood Swings’ song “The
Finest Line.”
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