Artist description High energy songs and great personal lyrics with strong, melodic female vocals.

Music Style Is it Pop? Is is Punk? It's My Own Worst Enemy!

Musical Influences The Patti Smith Group, R.E.M., Velvet Underground, Nirvana

Similar Artists Sleater-Kinney, PJ Harvey, Throwing Muses

Artist History my own worst enemy is a pop/punk power trio from Boston, playing dynamic, heart-on your-sleeve rock loosely based on overdriven & jangling twin guitars, innovative drumming and strong, melodic vocals. Guitarists/songwriters Susan Minichiello and Steve Prygoda have been writing and playing together for five years. Minichiello writes with brutal, broken honesty and bare-bones emotion, filling up the room with her solitary, tough-as-nails vocal presence. Prygoda delivers as if he has actually swallowed nails, adhering to basic punk rock ethics wrapped around plaintive arrangements, put across with fiery conviction. John Cahill, formerly of the Boston band Panhead, replaced original drummer Tony Greco in 2002. Cahill’s aggressive, no-frills style has energized both the sound and songwriting in the band. Among the band’s influences are The Patti Smith Group, Sleater-Kinney, Modern Lovers and X. The indie press has likened my own worst enemy’s sound to the Throwing Muses, The Feelies, Barbara Manning and others. my own worst enemy has released one full-length album (treblemaker, 2000; elis eil records) and are working on a follow-up.

Group Members Susan Minichiello: Vocals, Guitar, Backing Vocals; Steve Prygoda: Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Xylophone; John Cahill: Drums & Backing Vocals

Instruments Guitars, Drums, Vocals

Albums Treblemaker (2000, Elis Eil Records)

Press Reviews From The Noise Magazine, December 2000: My Own Worst Enemy is the rough-cut, unpretentious rock of cigarettes and straight liquor. The band doesn't even have a bass player, for the love of god! The production on Treblemaker, their debut CD, has a sort of Dumptruck sensibility, complete with fuzzily distorted guitars at low volumes, drums set nicely in the background, vocals up front and clean. Lead singer/songwriter Susan Minichiello is no lilting, yodeling, cookie-cutter, modern-rock femme vocalist. Rather, her voice embodies all the desperation and formidableness of a late 70's Patti Smith. And when "Garfield," the first cut on the CD, takes an unexpected turn into its somber but infectious chorus, Minichiello's unmistakable talent for songwriting shines through as brilliantly as her voice. As far as the lyrics go, Treblemaker is a journal of loss and bitterness, sometimes mellow and dreamy, sometimes edgy and biting. And just when you think you've reached your fill of alcohol-laced depression, here comes guitarist/songwriter Steve Prygoda with "Paint the Town," and electrifying blast of a tune that rises above the somber mood of the rest of the CD. But of course the sentiment here is just as stark- "let's paint the town red tonight!"- like rising out of your depression long enough to go out and get blasted on alcohol. Prygoda's singing on this track and one other entitled "Portland" is emotive and raw. In fact, Minichiello and Prygoda's songwriting and singing styles complement each other perfectly. If you like honest, guts-on-the-table rock devoid of trickery and preciousness, then My Own Worst Enemy is the band for you. This is the kind of CD you'd expect to hear blasting from behind the counter of your favorite indie record store. With any luck, Treblemaker should become a college radio favorite. (Wayne Gibbus)

Location Boston, MA - USA

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