Spawned in 1995 from the same muddy Ohio River that birthed alt rock pioneers the Afghan Whigs and the Ass Ponys, power poppers' clabbergirl quickly developed a reputation for playing catchy, melodic songs very fast a la Manchester UK's Buzzcocks. Gigging as a power trio, clabbergirl earned an unprecedented five appearances in modern rock station WOXY's annual 97Xposure Top 20, including a top 4 finish in 1996 and Band of the Year Honors in 2001. The success of the songs on the internet even drew the interest of a film production company in Los Angeles who wanted to pair the band with hometown boy band 98 Degrees for an upcoming G' rated Disney special. It never happened.

After appearing on numerous compilations (WOXY Xposure '95,'96,'97, Popopolis Vol. I, Louisville's Harvestfest and Our Musik) and putting out two EP's (Sinkhole '98, Please Daddy '99), clabbergirl released its debut full length "I Feel Pretty" in September 2001. Recorded over 8 long months at Backstage Studios with engineer Jim Howard (Warsaw Falcons, Midnight Starr), the disc blends the band's anthemic power rock sound with lush, subtle instrumentation. "Pretty" was fortunate enough to make a few year end Top Ten Lists and was regarded by some as the local 'power pop' album of the year'. In March 2002, the disc nabbed CD of the Year honors at the CAMMY (Cincinnati Area Pop Music) Awards.

When guitarist Al Valvano relocated, drummer Brian Halloran and vocalist/bassist Sean Rhiney added guitarists Dave Purcell (Pike 27) and Paul DeNu (Crosley) and backing vocalist/keyboardist Bill Donabedian (Crosley) as permanent members. The resulting raunchy live mix has coalesced into something a little more akin to the Sex Pistols and the Isley Brothers having a baby: Dirty power pop and soul with a little bit of 'uh huh' and a whole lot of 'hell yeah'. A split single on with award-winning floetry artist Abiyah on Datawaslost records was the first recorded evidence of the new style: slinky pop-hop on one side, anthemic groove on the other. Life is good.

- Pete Briquette - The Nooner Music Express -