Lock up your sons & daughters and watch out for Cougar Party. These three ferocious femmes live by a personal is political and DIY ethos, and include former members of The Plath and Mach Tiver. Cougar Party who hail from Toronto have been together for 3 years and in that time they have played numerous shows around the eastern part of Canada & the US, playing events like Ladyfest, Pride, CMW, Wavelength, Safe & Sound Toronto, Rock against Rape and NXNE.
After being chosen to be part of Shameless Magazines Good Grooming for Girls compilation along with the likes of Arcade Fire & Controller Controller, Cougar Party recorded their album Heartbreakers/Homewreckers. This debut record was released in the spring of 2005 and received rave reviews, it even had journalists coming up with new sub genres, as they were unable to pin Cougar Partys sound & style down. They have been described as; sludge rock, scrappy metallic punk, aggro grrrl-core, screamo punk girls, post riot grrrl, feminist cock rock, bent punks & slutcore.
Currently, Cougar Party who were just picked to have one of their songs play soundtrack to the Inside/Out film festival trailer, are writing their upcoming record. This new record, which will reflect their maturing sound, will be recorded & released, fall of 2006.
Here is what people are saying:
"Ever had one of those days when you just wanted to go home, slam the door and scream at the top of your lungs? Cougar Party's debut release, Heartbreakers/Homewreckers, is the soundtrack for that day. This punk-metal trio shows us that screaming over grinding guitar riffs is not just for boys, and that it's possible to convey a spectrum of emotions."
-Shameless magazine
Cougar Party, the-Heartbreakers/Homewreckers CD
If you love metal's pulse but are growing tired of telling dudes to suck your left one, come to the Cougar Party (ex-Mach Tiver, the Plath). The helter-skelter Toronto trio blends a true blue personal/political with bikini-top Xeroxes and songs about disconnect, snugglebunnies, and getting lucky in Kentucky. The lyrics can be skeletal; still, it's good to dance at last.
-Punk Plant
"Cougar Party play straightforward aggressive rock, and avoid stereotypes that might otherwise threaten to extinguish the flame. Emotions (granted though, anger mostly pervades) are genuine. They don't cop out by playing up their novelty as a "girl band" while some female musicians rely on stereotypical ideas of female aggression, Cougar Party are simply aggressive."
-Exclaim Magazine
"There arent a lot of all-girl metal bands out there and Cougar Party know this. In fact, theyre desperate to change the scenes state of affairs when it comes to female musicians. If a new wave is on the way, Cougar Party are leading the charge with their teeth bared. [They are] political and DIY to the bone [The CD] sounds damn fine too. On Heartbreakers/Homewreckers, Cougar Party prove they can do metal with the best of them. Clocking in at about 22 minutes, its one of the shorter full-lengths youre likely to hear, but each minute is simply packed.
-Chart Magazine
Heartbreakers/Homewreckers works best when cranking up the volume and the Iommi factor while retaining the tough/vulnerable stance and pointed political bent (as seen in the band's previous incarnation as punchy indie rockers The Plath).
-Eye Magazine
Miss the days when a fanzine was a photocopied work of art, not a URL? When grrrl punk was all about Daisy Chainsaw and skateboards, not Avril and Sk8R Boi? Look no further than scrappy local trio Cougar Party, who offer up shouty DIY punk rawk without rehashing old-school Riot Grrrl. With a pedigree that includes members of Mach Tiver and the Plath, Cougar Party capably pull off neo-feminist rallying cries and tender love songs with an aggro edge. Their debut [Heartbreakers/Homewreckers] is quite well produced, foregrounding sludgy walls of guitar noise and pulsating drums.
-Now Magazine
Cougar party has a bracing power and lyrical honesty lacking in most of the music scene around Toronto and the rest of the country. They are hard fighting and uncompromising realists in a landscape of poseurs and manufactured imagery
-Sean Condon CFBU-FM
[Cougar Partys] femininity comes at you at a very different angle, where loud and heavy guitar riffs lead the way into discontent. This trio can out gun any man any day of the week, they came to the stage and played this loud hardcore aggressive music[their] abrasive sound brought me back to the days when there were more all-female bands out there.
-Xtra! Magazine
Bent Punk -Now Magazine
[Cougar Party is] made up of three 20-something women who make hard, thrashy punk-influenced hardcore. The band's four track demo, released last year, made number one on one of CFBU's specialty charts. Their full-length debut, is already number 12 on the station's top 30.
-The Brock Press
[Cougar Party] have never adjusted their unapologetic musical and lyrical approach.
-Xtra Magazine
Cougar Party, a fierce hardcore band featuring young members of The Plath & Mach Tiver ended the night with screamo historanics and drummer Shannon Gs good words about women getting exposure by playing shows that would otherwise be exclusively male
-Now Magazine
Aggressive Sludge Rockers
-Eye Magazine
When I got the chance to see Cougar Party perform again at Fruit Market I felt the power pouring off stage, and my friend commented I think this is the best band Ive ever heard. Do you think I can marry them all?
-Trade Magazine
This is a fiery punk that smashes the notion of Just another girl band.
-Toronto Star
