Photo by Faye Orlove
Slutever are the punk rock Romy and Michelle: The “friends first” twenty-somethings make grungy music that’s as equally influenced by radical 90s feminism as it is by Lisa Frank stickers and Britney’s shaved head. Last year, high school BFFs Rachel Gagliardi and Nicole Snyder left Philly for Los Angeles and set out to make their two-piece band Slutever into “the most famous band ever to never release a full length.” That said, each of their singles is such a sludged-out banger that if any band can skirt by on EPs alone for the rest of their lives, it’s Slutever. They’ve already played packed shows with people like Babes in Toyland, Kate Nash, Colleen Green, and Girlpool.
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Even with a sound as grimy and DIY as their bleached blonde roots, Slutever are all about the mainstream; Kardashians, selfie sticks, minions—they fucking love it. And honestly, thank god. All we need is another super serious and high falutin punk band. What’s interesting though is how they run their unabashed obsession with pop culture through a meat grinder, like a Barbie doll after you’ve ripped all the limbs off. In fact, Slutever’s disembodied girliness is a lot like that 1994 Hole video for “Miss World,” when Courtney Love is sobbing underneath a prom banner that says “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness.”
There’s no particular agenda to this band beyond what they’re literally saying. While they’ve definitely ripped a page from the riot grrrl manifesto, they’re also doodling in the margins with a milky pen. Slutever’s most recent EP, Almost Famous, filters through feminist subject matter tongue-in-cheek: teen moms with broken hearts, millenials smothered by their own dreams, Miss America drunk at 10 AM in the morning. It’s like, too real.
We asked Rachel Gagliardi (who also plays the bass in Upset) and Nicole Snyder about their favorite pop star beef, blink 182, and what they wore to the 1999 VMAs for this edition of Firsties and Faves.
Noisey: First song you learned how to play?
Nicole Snyder: “Adam’s Song” Blink 182.
Rachel Gagliardi: Literally “Adam’s Song” by Blink 182.
Favorite teen movie?
Nicole: Scream.
Rachel: Josie and the Pussycats.
First Slutever show?
Rachel: Human BBQ XXXII at Pi Lam in Philly. 2010? It was a festival at a punk co-ed fraternity at UPenn. We probably played first.
Favorite MTV Teen Mom?
Nicole: Farrah? Jennell? Tough call.
Rachel: Team Macy.
First thought when you wake up in the morning?
Nicole: I look at my phone for like 20 minutes until my eyes start to water and then I think about how addicted I am to my phone and how I’ll definitely be diagnosed with phone-induced cancer any day now.
Rachel: Find my phone and text Nicole to see if she will get coffee with me.
Favorite 90s band?
Nicole: Slutever.
Rachel: Hole.
Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift?
Nicole: Musically, T-Swift. But on a human level, Miley. Fuck Taylor. Marry Miley.
Rachel: A combo of Miley Cyrus’ aesthetics and Selena Gomez’s sweet little heart.
First crush?
Nicole: Malcolm from pre-school. We used to play Power Rangers and he told me I had to be the Pink one because I’m a girl, but I loved him anyways.
Rachel: Either Jonathan Taylor Thomas or Otto Rocket from Rocket Power.
Favorite karaoke jam?
Nicole: “If It Makes You Happy” by Sheryl Crow.
Rachel: “Sunday Morning” by No Doubt.
First tattoo?
Nicole: My friend Lelah (from Tacocat) and I gave each other stupid sloppy Nirvana smileys.
Rachel: I got a pink rose with my mom in a weird hippie town called New Hope.
Favorite celebrity beef?
Nicole: Rachel and Nicole from SLUTEVER.
First concert?
Nicole: Spice Girls, 1997. I had floor seats but we were way in the back and I cried because I couldn’t see anything.
Rachel: Bon Jovi. Went to a sizable amount of their concerts from the age of 0-13.
Favorite Kardashian?
Nicole: Kim is probably the best right now, but they all have their moments. Kendall is so good.
Rachel: Very hard to say but if I must chose, Kim or Kourtney.
First fashion statement?
Nicole: I went to the VMAs in ’99 and wore a leopard print 3/4-sleeve shirt, black choker, and jeans with random CD covers ironed on. That was a strong look.
Rachel: I got sent home from high school for wearing a sheer slip as a skirt once.
Philly or LA?
Nicole: Seattle
Rachel: Too nomadic to truly commit to either.
Favorite era of Britney Spears?
Nicole: Shaved head.
Rachel: “Lucky” music video.
Bryn Lovitt is a contributing editor for Noisey. Follow her on Twitter.
