Photo by Daniel Topete
I love Blondshell. Even the name is evocative. It makes me think of Spoon River Anthology — there’s this line, “And I but a shell of myself”. Open, barren, completely raw. “An exposed nerve” as Blondshell might put it.
Not quite so melodramatic, but Blondshell’s Sabrina Teitelbaum does bare her innermost thoughts, even the dark ones, skillfully without taking herself too seriously. She carries this theme through with her latest single “Joiner” off her self-titled debut album out April 7th via Partisan Records.
Maybe my favorite quality of Blondshell is her earnestness. Even when making a joke, that element of truth that is at the center is piercing. There’s also a sense of nostalgia musically. “I was listening to a lot of Britpop when I wrote this song,” Teitelbaum shared. “A lot of those bands (The Verve, Pulp, Suede, Blur etc.) channeled dark subject matter, drugs, and all this dirty stuff, but with a fun acoustic guitar under it. I was listening to The Replacements, too. That’s what this song was inspired by sonically. I wanted it to feel like you’re watching HBO, where even though it’s heavy, it’s still a good time.”
Blondshell is currently on tour with Suki Waterhouse and will be heading to SXSW this spring. Check out full tour dates below.
Blondshell Live Dates:
01/24/23 – Toronto, ON – The Axis Club*
01/25/23 – Montreal, QC – Le Studio TD*
01/27/23 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer*
01/28/23 – New York, NY – Webster Hall*
01/29/23 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club*
01/31/23 – Washington, DC – The Black Cat*
02/01/23 – Chapel Hill, NC – Cat’s Cradle*
02/03/23 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West*
02/04/23 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East*
02/06/23 – Dallas, TX – Cambridge Room HOB*
02/07/23 – Austin, TX – Antone’s*
02/09/23 – Phoenix, AZ – The Crescent Ballroom*
02/10/23 – Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theater*
02/11/23 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theater*
03/13/23 – 03/18/23 – Austin, TX – SXSW
03/22/23 – 03/26/23 – Boise, ID – Treefort Festival
* denotes with Suki Waterhouse