Candy Warpop

Normally I scratch my hard-rock head when a band I admire hands over what I deem to be perfectly recorded music to a bunch of DJs (“knob twiddlers,” I call ‘em) so that the material can be tainted with obnoxious disco pulsing. Months back I caught a live Beauty Bar set by female-fronted noise-gazers Candy Warpop and was stirred to my bubblegum core by the group’s slashing tunefulness. “Smilefucker” lacked nothing. But Vegas rave guru Metaphase re-imagines it as part of Warpop’s new five-song remix EP, and I have to admit his version is darker, doomier, more mind-shatteringly apocalyptic than the original. I’m blasting it constantly at my house to, I’m sure, my neighbors’ irritation. Also alluringly skewed: wonkknow’s coldly Plasticine take on “Plastic Earth,” Cayce Andrew’s squared-off and surging interpretation of “Velluto Blu” and Jonny Vibe’s psychedlic-Nintendo adaptation of Warpop grunge ballad “Harrowing of Hell.” Download at CandyWarpop.com - Vegas Seven

“A local punk/experimental/rock quintet… capable of depth in a dirty way. Like something Tank Girl would’ve dug. Listen to “Smilefucker” to get where we’re coming from…. It sounded like driving a Jeep through wet cement – then setting the cement-crusted Jeep on fire.” - Las Vegas CityLife

“I’ve been tracking this other cool new local band called Candy Warpop, who played a spirited fuzz-rock set (only their second live performance)… inside Beauty Bar, into which I happened to stumble. Looking forward to seeing ‘em rip apart a bigger club as an opening act.” - Vegas Seven

“Candy Warpop, speaking of the ‘90s, there’s definitely been this vibe in music, not just locally but nationally for sure… There’s an indie rock revolution now that has a ‘90s feel, it sounds a little cliché, but the other day we were at the Candy Warpop show and this is stuff I used to love, the sound, back in the day! And there it was right in my face again!”
“Anisa is one of my favorite drummers in town too, it’s like she’s channeling John Bonham the way she wails on the set.”
“Oh yeah! And I don’t want to sound like ‘oh you wouldn’t expect her to be good’ or whatever, but when you look at their drummer – you know, if you just saw her out a Walmart or something - she wouldn’t have this ‘F-yeah, I’m a drummer of a serious rock band and I’ll kill you!’ Not even close!”
“Put her behind the kit though and it’s a different story.”
“Oh my god! It sounds like she’s channeling some dead people! Candy Warpop is a powerful act!" - Neon Reverb Radio

“…Candy Warpop, a take-no prisoners rock monster fronted by the sassy Beatrice Hernandez. The group is a spectacle in itself, from the glittery jacket sported by guitarist Joshua Cohen to the gas mask drummer Anisa Buttar wears while pounding her drum-set with reckless abandon. Buttar’s impeccable playing carries Candy Warpop’s hard psychedelic sound, while Hernandez’s spunky, crass performance is like what Gwen Stefani would have been like had she partnered up with Rage Against The Machine….” - Las Vegas Weekly

Candy Warpop: Fuzzed-out, female-fronted pop-rock that falls somewhere between My Bloody Valentine and Hole -- in sum, a chewy, sugary center coated in distortion and powered by the jackhammer beats of gorgeous (and deadly) drummer Anisa Buttar. - Vegas Rated

“Forget about any slick, polished, new-wave revivalism the Killers made us attach to Sin City back in the 2000s, because the gritty, born-to-lose avant-rock of Candy Warpop seems more appropriate for a debauched night on the Strip…. Pre-Op Lollipop EP is a lost highway of punk aggression with hard-rock riffs… a window to that female-fronted alternative-nation soundtrack of the mid-‘90s… we expect them to quickly shine... like Vegas at midnight, with a few bulbs burnt out.” - The Boston Phoenix

Pick Of The Week (July 23): ARTrageous Festival at The Cosmopolitan (featuring Candy Warpop). - Las Vegas CityLife