In my Rise and Fall of Skye Wright book series Skye teams up with her old friend Annie to reform their band The Dynamite Chicks. This happen in book two, The Return of The Dynamite Chicks.

When Skye ran into Annie and was inspired to reform her old band, she started something that began to grow and take off, leading her up to, not only an alt-music hit that went viral, but also a life course that led her to owning a recording studio and record label, events taking her places she never knew she would go.

But what exactly do The Dynamite Chicks sound like? I posted about the bands that influenced The Dynamite Chicks, which just happen to be some of my favorite bands and performers, so that might give you some idea as to what they sound like, but the bands are varied enough that you still might wonder.

Given the diverse range of musicians in the band, from Skye to her bass player Miranda, the tall and intimidating Devil Girl, to Roach, a seasoned drummer from the scene, to the undergound super star Molly, a singer made famous in the punk scene with her old band Bus Stop Hookers… their sound couldn’t be pigeonholed to one particular style. The experience of the band members runs the gamut from new wave to rockabilly to straight punk to music that sounds like barbed wire going through a meat grinder.

Here’s my attempt at nailing down what the band’s sound and style is like.

The first book of my Skye Wright series.
You can find this book here!

Pop Punk? Why not?

Sometimes I believe their sound would sometimes sway more to a straight up rock and roll sound, or even verge on pop punk, which would explain their going viral. I think of songs like this…

But let’s be realistic…

When I really think about it, my inclination for their sound is that they trend more towards harder and hectic songs. The Svetlanas is a good example of how I envision their music. I also imagine Molly Mix’s singing style to be much like that off Olga Svetlana. (Without the Russian accent, of course!)

Down in the Dirt…

But there are, and would have to be, much more hardcore elements to their sound, especially considering the bands all of them had been in before.. Something like this, one of my fave bands from the day.

Going too far?

Let’s get realistic again… Skye and her friends are big fans of the real deal, the hardcore sound that goes off the edge. Would they play music like this? Many of them, especially Annie and Molly, have been in bands that go the extra hardcore mile, but the sounds goes past where they center themselves. Even so, bands like Discharge, Fucked Up, and this band Slutbomb are definitely mine, and their, favorite bands. They wouldn’t go this far with what they do. (At least not all the time.) Even so, it’s a big influence which helps drive some of their more loud and fast songs.

Of course they would combine elements of the bands I already listed in my previous post – The attitude of Bikini Kill, the drive of L7, the screaming voices of Brody Dalle and Kate Bjelland… but their combination of punk and hardcore would be exemplified by the various talents of the band members.

But why would they get so popular so quickly? Is that even realistic?

Everyone in the reformed version of The Dynamite Chicks are veteran musicians. They’ve already played tons of shows at clubs, they’ve all been on broken down van tours, and they’ve already been in so many bands, usually bands that didn’t last very long which was frustrating for them as musicians, but gave them quite a bit of playing experience. All of them managed to garner qunot just playing experience, but also learned how to work within and manage being in a band.

And it’s not just experience. Most of the members of The Dynamite Chicks are clean and sober, and the two that aren’t are, (more or less,) past their extreme party days. Living more sedate and organized lives has helped them keep the act going strong.

Can they become actual rock stars though?

There is something to be said about trying to break into the mainstream. Some undergound acts that dwell in the alt genres do, but most of them do not.

Could The Dynamite Chicks really become pop star successful? Realistically that’s unlikely. Many people think about acts such as The Cadillac Tramps and The Mekons, bands that many people believed should have broken out into the mainstream, but never did. Even though they have tons of adoring fans who believe they should have been much more successful than they were, that they should’ve been breakout successes, they never quite got the recognition and outreach that many people believed they deserved.

As for The Dynamite Chicks, where will they go? At this time I’ve finished the manuscript for book six, am working on book seven, and have the outline for book eight. Will Skye’s band break out and become big time? Or only successful in the punk/alt/heavy music scenes? Will they fall apart before they get anywhere else? Or just cruise along where they are? Even I can’t tell you that. At least not yet.

As for what they sound like, I hope you have a better idea given what I’ve gone over. They don’t sound just like any of the bands I’ve mentioned, as I’ve only referenced those acts as a matter of style and influence. The Dynamite Chicks have their own sound, within the punk genre. And the mix of experience and talent within that group makes them so much more dynamic than other bands.