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All Girl Summer Fun Band
Looking Into It

Album US 2008 on AGSFB Music label
Rock (Alternative Rock, Indie Rock)

For ten years, the All Girl Summer Fun Band (AGSFB) has blasted gritty, sunny pop gems out of rainy Portland, Oregon with a fervor, enthusiasm, and stamina that is quintessentially Pacific Northwestern. The band has not only built its recorded legacy (two 7”s, one EP, three LPs, and inclusions on more than six compilations), but has also played a multitude of shows (including performances with Mates of State, Sleater Kinney, The Gossip, The Shins, Modest Mouse, The Thermals, The Softies, Dub Narcotic Sound System, and Puffy Ami Yumi.) Their newest LP, Looking Into It (AGSFB Music), follows 2003’s 2 (K Records) and is a distilled, concentrated AGSFB. Jen Sbragia (The Softies), Kim Baxter (Cherry Ice Cream Smile), and Kathy Foster (The Thermals, Hutch & Kathy) don’t hold back the jams. Looking Into It is not only a stunning pop album filled with the band’s signature crunch-fuzz guitars and dead-on melodic sense, but lyrically, AGSFB bravely confronts issues such as greed, death, getting fired, relationship dynamics, and new love. This is AGSFB at their rawest, brightest, and best - and they know it. The band worked on several of these songs for years, meticulously writing and rewriting until they knew they had accomplished what they set out to do. Looking Into It, so titled in part because AGSFB accepted the challenges of self-recording and self-releasing their work this time around (and also because the band is learning to operate as a three-piece following the departure of member Ari Douangpanya), is nothing short of an autonomous triumph for a number of reasons. Recording the album entirely in Baxter’s basement studio gave the band the ability to do without constrictive studio schedules and the monetary demands that come with studio recording, and allowed the band members to push themselves musically, especially in terms of handling songwriting with a new emphasis on total collaboration. The album’s conception, execution, capture, and release embody what is incredible and vital about DIY creation—AGSFB has made a stunning record exactly the way they wanted. Enjoy.

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All Girl Summer Fun Band , *1998 US album by

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