The PrimaDonna Reeds: “Red Stilettos” – from the symbolic to the intentionally bizarre

The PrimaDonna Reeds is a New York rock band formed by JC Ryder, an accomplished flamenco and rock guitarist, and Karena Reiter, a talented rock vocalist and veteran music journalist and promoter. A longtime friend of Karena’s, Luigi Scorcia, a respected actor and a highly accomplished guitarist who traveled the world as Johnny Thunders’ bassist after a stint with his Max’s mainstay band, Luigi and The Wiseguys, immediately saw the band’s potential.

Luigi signed on as the band’s producer and used his well-heeled network to fast-track The PrimaDonna Reeds into the studio, resulting in the band’s album “Red Stilettos”.

The PrimaDonna Reeds are certainly an alternative group. Their music is about as willfully different to the mainstream as you can go while still being always catchy and listenable and their lyrics range from the symbolic to the intentionally bizarre. “Red Stilettos” contains some great work – especially the songs “Give Me The Key”, “To Feel You”, “Queen of the Night” and the title track “Red Stilettos”. These four tracks alone serve as a great introduction to The PrimaDonna Reeds musical philosophy.

The lyrics throughout the album, covers simple topics but discusses them in a cerebral way such as the search for lost lovers or a parody about the obsession for cellphones. Karena has a marvelous vocal delivery with a very creative use of pauses to convey ironic meaning, while JC Ryder sings with a half-funky, half-monotone voice that is delightful to the ear.

The musicians are also all top-notch, often giving the impression of being just about to veer off into some wild soloing only to hold it together to the end of the track.

While other artists are writing self-conscious lyrics which sound almost identical, The PrimaDonna Reeds are experimenting with words and music. Each member of the band is very conscious of the sounds they make and where they fit into the whole.

The guitarists, the bassist, and the drummer are all very creative and original sounding and are very careful to both play stuff that is tasteful and at the same time stay out of each other’s way. This enables the band to put out a modern, sort of suburban-hipster sound, which references retro funk, pop and rock.

The songs are catchy and odd. But it is the oddity that makes the band what they are; they are not like the cookie cutter bands out there. If you want to hear a band with their own unique sound, this is the one. I think the band’s motto is – If you’re going to make music, go the distance and do something worthwhile.

The music is simply brilliant. It has a simple sounding but complex style, along with guitars and bass lines that actually move. So if you’re actually going to buy music and not pirate it, purchase something like “Red Stilettos”. This album is the kind of album that is always welcome, always satisfying, always loveable – from start to finish, it’s just exploding with incredible musicality.

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