All-girl bands are cool, period. Guys think they’re hot. Girls do to. You don’t come across them too often and when you do, they’ve usually got a unique sound, feature or kink that sticks with you in one way or another.
“Niña con Frenillos” (Girl with Braces) is no exception.
They’re attractive, accessible and fun with a raw grungy punk sound that you can’t help but groove too. Their songs have a colorful quality that’ll either have you nodding your head and swaying your hips, dancing like an idiot, or yelling, “This is awesome!” to the person next to you.
Most would file the group under some classification of the punk-rock category, but that’s not what they’re going for. “We don’t want to be called punk or party-punk or pop-punk,” lead singer Winifrede Walbaum (24) said. “We play pajama-party music.”
Makes perfect sense.
While you won’t be blown away by high degrees of difficulty or flashy solos, you will notice that everyone is comfortable, slightly reckless, uninhibited and having a blast – a pajama party.
The Chilean band, whose influences include Sonic Youth, Michael Jackson, El Otro Yo, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Le Tigre and Nirvana, was conceived only a year ago, out of a group of friends just partying together.
Winifred, the lead singer, is sexy and sweet with an effortless, smooth and loud voice that leads but doesn’t stifle. I get the sense that she just rolled out of bed one day, started singing and that’s what came out.
The bassist is hilarious, clowning around on stage and taking swigs from the crowd’s drinks. If we were at a college house-party, she’d be the one jumping off the roof into the swimming pool. The guitarist and drummer are a little more out of focus, but work well as parts of the whole.
I saw them play at El Clan in the Bellavista area of
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