the woos

Brendan Bogosian just might be the luckiest guitar player on the Cincinnati Indie music scene. His three bandmates are talented, creative, motivated, and, oh yeah, they also just happen to be three of the cutest chicks in Rock & Roll right now. But one listen to the lush, catchy sound of The Woos lets you know that they are not just another cute Pop novelty act.

The Woos have been creating their melodic, eclectic songs in bassist Annie Peeno's attic for five years, but they didn't play those songs for anyone but their closest friends until 2002. "This was just a hobby for us," Peeno says. "But then people were like 'Why don't you play out?' " So, on Dec. 7, 2002, The Woos took the stage at the now defunct Overflow, and the rest of Cincinnati was introduced to their sound.

Formed in 1998, Annie and drummer Julie Baker initially conceived The Woos as an all-girl band. They found rhythm guitarist Sarrah Hutton and started writing. Then they met Bogosian in 1999 and, with his guitar playing, their sound was complete, and the notion that the band shouldn't contain anyone with a Y chromosome was quickly scrapped.

"The interesting thing about Brendan is that he's a lefty, but he plays right-handed," Peeno says of Bogosian's playing. "We'd be the ultimate guitar player if he could play the notes on the neck, and I could strum."

Though all four Woos sing, Peeno is definitely the most outspoken member of the band. In answer to my question, "Who wears the pants?" she quips, "We all fit into a large pair of pants, but even though my butt's the smallest, it takes up the most room." The Woos' working relationship is anything but a dictatorship, however. Each contributes equally to the group.

While their music is influenced by bands like The Pixies, The Replacements, Dinosaur Jr. and The Flaming Lips, their songwriting process is uniquely their own. "Lately we've been switching (instruments)," Hutton says. Peeno explains: "We've been playing each other's instruments lately. Sometimes when you don't quite know what you're doing, you can be a little more creative and free, because you're not trying to play so correctly." Bogosian calls the process "musical brainstorming."

With the results of their efforts, they recorded a three-song demo earlier this year, and they plan to do many more shows. "We would like to increase the local interest in our music," Peeno says, "and possibly branch out a bit and do some regional things and just see what kind of a reaction we get and take it from there."

Though this is 2003, and we should be beyond sexism, I felt compelled to ask the girls of The Woos if it is harder for them to get taken seriously as females in Rock.

The answer was a resounding "Yes, of course."

"People try to tell us what to do at every show," according to Baker. "They come up to us and tell us how to play." Hutton backs her up: "We get lots of advice we don't ask for," she says. And Peeno tells what may be the worst of it when she says, "There are bands in this town that won't play shows with us, even though our music is compatible and our crowd is compatible, because we're female. We think that really sucks."

The Woos do keep a sense of humor about it all -- Peeno acknowledges that they get attention for being female, and well, all darn cute. She quips, "If you wanna make the article hot and sexy, then talk about this attic where we practice. It gets to be 120 degrees in the summer and we have to take all our clothes off to play. That's part of the origination of the name, because we dump ice cubes down our shorts because it gets so hot up here. It's like 'Wooo.' " Hutton cheekily confirms the tradition of "Pantless Practice."

"No bras. Ice cubes in every crazy place," she says. Annie laughs. "Or sometimes no shirts & just bras. And Brendan in his boxers."

Through it all though, the most important things to The Woos are their relationships with each other and their music.

"I think the most important thing is just being able to play with (each other)," Baker says. "I know we all enjoy our friendships with each other, because that was our base before we even started this. We're just four people who really, really love music. It's a driving force in our lives."



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- city beat