Photo Credit: Jason Gessner
2019 was quite the year for Milwaukee-based indie act Negative/Positive as the band cranked out three records over the 12-month span: An LP, Kick Me in Both of My Shins at the Same Time (January), and two singles, “Space Smells Like Lilacs” (September) and “Rebel Girl” (November). While all three records highlighted a young band maturing at a rapid pace, most intriguing was “Rebel Girl,” a song originally recorded by Riot grrrl pioneers Bikini Kill. Would Negative/Positive’s next release draw further from such a storied history?
But by the end of 2019, the band’s future was in doubt. In late November, members Ava Gessner (vocals-guitar) and Ava Antonie (drum) announced that founding member Lola Flores (bassist) was leaving the band. The band played one last show as a three-piece before announcing that they would carry on as a combo. “Well, at first we thought that a two-piece was super easy and manageable,” notes Antonie. “But as we started writing new stuff, we realized that with just the two of us everything seemed a little empty.” Antonie and Gessner quickly made the decision to bring another musician into the fold.
In fact, the Avas decided to welcome in two new players: a bassist and rhythm guitarist, which, as Gessner explains, “is new territory for us.” And the addition of new voices has helped the songwriting process for the next Negative/Positive LP. “We have a lot of songs started for the album,” says Gessner, “and they sound very different, which is something I personally really like about our music.” Gessner herself has been drawing inspiration from such disparate acts as Tessa Violet, King Princess and St. Vincent. “I sometimes get caught up in thinking that since we’re labeled as a rock band,” says Gessner, “I need to be writing more punk rock songs. But I’ve found that it’s okay to have an album where some songs are punk, some are more bedroom pop.”
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Such an attitude helps explain the allure of Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” to the young band. Though the band is moving away from a strictly punk-rock sound, the Riot grrrl era will, according to Gessner, “always somewhat inspire us, since it was so pivotal for women in bands—not just the singular singer or bass player in a group of ‘dudebros,’ not non-male instrumentalists, songwriters and performers all coming together for their own art.” It is such an understanding of their roots that makes the next Negative/Positive album one of the most anticipated local releases for 2020.
Negative/Positive perform on a bill with The Nile Club, Neptune’s Core and Cherry Punch at X-Ray Arcade, 5036 S. Packard Ave., Cudahy, on Friday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m.
