NO ONE IS REPLACEABLE read a sign on the rehearsal wall. Female pop-punk quartet Go Betty Go was in a day-to-day grind, trying to craft new material for their first full length album -- but it almost never happened. The toll of almost a straight year of ceaseless road work had left them shredded, particularly lead singer Nicolette Vilar, who had grave doubts as to whether living in a van was any life at all. And musically, each member had a different idea about a direction for the new recording. By January of 2005, when they set up in the studio to write, the band had nearly torn itself apart.
“It made it hard to work together,” guitarist Betty Cisneros said. ”There were at least two completely different approaches for the album, and Nicolette was so discouraged, we didn’t even know if she was going to stay in the band. We decided to go through a ‘band therapy’ session. It was really difficult”.
But no pain, no gain. And through the tough work, Go Betty Go developed a band philosophy embodied in the four word motto on their rehearsal wall. They closed ranks, and spent the next months writing and recording the new album. “We discovered a whole new method of writing,” says Cisneros. “I realized,” said Nicolette, “that I had a lot to offer, and I became a much better writer.”
When female pop-punk quartet Go Betty Go crashed out of a Glendale, California garage in 2001, they easily assumed prominence in the always booming, aggressive Los Angeles rock scene. Sisters Nicolette and Aixa Vilar (vocals and drums, respectively), the powerhouse force-of-nature guitarist Betty and bassist Michelle Rangel, Go Betty Go gigged an average of sixteen times a month. Their disparate music interests (Betty loves pop and rap; Nicolette Brit pop and indie punk; and Aixa and Michelle punk and classic rock) gelled into one compelling whole.
Fans quickly recognized that the band’s emphatic punk rock and solid original songs carried an undeniable ring of conviction. GBG’s profile was steadily heightened with a series of appearances on bilingual Latin rock television station LATV, radio broadcasts and feature articles in periodicals from La Opinion to the LA Weekly.
Following 2004s well-received debut EP Worst Enemy, GBG continued their impressive rise with a series of non-stop coast-to-coast appearances, not the least notable of which was inclusion on the Warped tour (which they‘ll repeat this year). Their music is popping up everywhere, from video games like the Fantastic Four, Burn Out 3: Take Down and Sims 2 University, to commercials, films and TV shows like MTV Punk’d , One Tree Hill, Spring Break: The Movie and The Entertainment Tonight Insider. They’ve also been featured in the pages of Alternative Press, Seventeen Mag, L.A. Times and numerous pubs en español, such as La Opinion, HOY and Latina, where their Hispanic heritage is celebrated.
With the release of NOTHING IS MORE, Go Betty Go meets the promise of the past four years of work. Produced by Flogging Molly’s Ted Hutt, NOTHING IS MORE is a rich exercise in high-octane pop-punk, leavened with several differing moods and sounds that add nuance and dimension beyond the group’s well-established approach. Themes of desperation and hope are thoughtfully explored, particularly on opener “Saturday” and the stunning “Runaway,” where Nicolette’s strong, clear-toned vocals are delivered with perfection. “ The Pirate Song” goes off the beaten path with a tongue-in-cheek magnetism, enhanced by the Pogues’ James Fearnley’s accordion and Hutt’s banjo; A handful of GBG stage show staples are finally captured-- “Crumbling Down,” “Donde Voy” “No Hay Perdon”--but it’s the new material that really expands on the promise the band has shown from their earliest days.
The results are indisputable. From the whimsy of “I’m From L.A.”, (they say i'm lazy...i'm always late/ full of excuses...i'm from l.a), to the dire, real-life urgency of “Get Out,” Go Betty Go is not merely reaching out, they’re grasping a dynamic expanded musical vision. Hutt’s production, by turns big and brash , textured and intimate, complements the results with an ideal mixture of sheer scope and subtle guidance, revealing Betty as masterly rock guitarist, Michelle as a bassist of conspicuous acuity, with Aixa’s drums delivering both Richter scale jolting power and understated restraint. Topped off by Nicolette‘s evocative vocals, NOTHING IS MORE documents this extraordinary band at a critical point in their career, successfully combining longtime fan favorites with ambitious new techniques for a dazzling set that is not only impressive, it also demonstrates that Go Betty Go’s intoxicating passion and promise have really only just begun to blossom.
Source: http://www.gobettygo.com/bio.asp
