Published on 21st April 2007.

Ivy Sins

Charlotte Oxnard speaks to Hull all-girl band Ivy Sins

Getting anyone to Hull is a hard task. Getting me to Hull is even harder. But the fact a good band were playing did tempt me one Thursday night. The fact that they are an ALL girl band (with no prospect of any boys to look at) made me cancel my train ticket and stay in Leeds. But, with a very persuasive flatmate ("Hull is great fun!") and the girl band being Ivy Sins, I packed up my things and found myself interviewing one of the most exciting new bands around.

With females becoming an integral part of this recent electronic craze, they always seem to be diluted down with some testosterone too. Not with Ivy Sins. This all female indie electro fivesome are proving that girls can do it alone (no need to burn your bras, this is not a feminist revolution, just good new music).

"Our music has been changing since we started, it's definitely more electronic now due to the new rave scene, we've just gotten a synth and our instrumental style is more dance orientated. We're not that electro though, and I suppose that you just get influenced by what you're listening too, so we have gotten a bit more 'dancey' through bands like CSS and GOOSE, but we enjoy that and the crowds do too". Yes they do. At tonight's Welly, it's not only the girl's boyfriends signing along to all the words but the majority of the audience.

Performance wise, Ivy Sins excelled. With a cool, confident stage presence, they worked Welly like a advertisement for Hull's vintage boutiques, with an amazing soundtrack. Leah mimicked a less assertive Kate Jackson but with the vocals of a stage singer such as Judy Garland. The most well known songs 'Gorgeous Nancy' and 'Freddie's Gold' were played out to a hyper crowd (I even saw the odd indie scenester kid (with his coat on indoors dontcha know) tapping his foot, or maybe just stubbing out a cigarette...) But who cares, Ivy Sins made most people move that night, and that's always necessary. Inspiration wise, with the girls fresh out of college, their music is innocent and naive, "We're all young and don't really want much responsibly, our songs are about getting drunk and having a good time". Whilst also discussing the importance of a boyfriend who dresses well. (No, that's not shallow but very important actually). 'Minus a heart' could be a manual for all those struggling boys who need to learn how to get a girl like an Ivy Sin. With lyrics reading, 'if only he would sew his jeans in... your shoes will have to go cos they're making me ill...'

"Yeah the gig was good", they claim after. "That's all we want to be known as really, a band that is great live. We want people to truly enjoy being at our gigs with music that gets them to the dance floor". This band are hot on new music and getting people moving, lead singer Leah DJs every week at Welly nightclub (she had the night off to perform) so she's aware of quality new music and allows it inspire the band whilst it enters the ears of sweaty, drunk Club NME goers. With all these new music spewing out from, well everywhere, Ivy Sins are only too quick to compliment the Hull scene. "Hull's great for music at the minute. The bands are fantastic and we're all friends and help each other out. We all support slots for each other and get people down to the gigs." How lovely. But, being an all girl band has been tough for these tiny little darlings. "We do get a lot of grief, 'cos you know what girls are like, they look at you, see what you're wearing and just think you're shit. So that's when you have to prove them wrong. But, when girls come up after we perform and compliment us it does feel good. I think people are just pleased to see an all female group making good music on their own."

And when asked if they would ever recruit a boy for 'Ivy Sins' they respond like only giggling teenage girls can do: "No!! It would make band practise so different. Cos now, it's not really like a practise, we're all best friends so it's not a chore at all. It sound's really cheesy but we're like family!! Boys would just ruin it..." Oh well, I'm afraid that the male population will just have to stay at being groupies... form an orderly queue...