DEBUT FULL-LENGTH FROM THE LADYBITS
Hi-Res image
ARTIST: The Ladybits
TITLE: Little Dreams
RADIO ADD DATE: 3/29/24
LABEL: Sugar City Music
CATALOGUE#: SCM2401
UPC#: 197999875532
Orlando Weekly Review by Bao Le-Huu
MUSIC LINKS
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"Our songs are about the bits and experiences of being a lady, or person, or you know, being alive."
– Renee Arozequeta
Central Florida alt-rockers, The Ladybits, are dropping their debut full-length release, Little Dreams, on Friday, March 29, 2024 on the Orlando-based Sugar City Music label.
All eight songs on Little Dreams were written by Renee Arozqueta and recorded at the Orlando Public Library’s Melrose Center and Sugar City Studios. Renee, who holds down the bass chair in Orlando’s reknowned Swamp Sistas, is a veteran songwriter with 11 full-length releases to her credit. Little Dreams typifies her style with piercing lyrical observations on love, death, relationships, vulnerability, self-preservation against a backdrop of precarious natural beauty.
Musically, Renee’s punk-influenced guitar drives the band while her distinctive vocals feature dramatic dynamic shifts from searing anthemic shouts to whispered secrets, and intricate layers of vocal harmony. Renee also has a folkier side that comes through on ballads like “Shuga Shug” and “For Your Shelf.”
Bassist Mike Adkins frequently claims to be a guitarist at heart—check out his atmospheric electric guitar work on “Wonder”—but in shifting to bass he brings a uniquely melodic sound to the low-end of Ladybits songs. By cueing off the vocal, as he explains his musical method, Mike creates sonic complexity that counterpoints with the vocal lines and complements Renee’s slashing bar chords in surprising ways. Drummer Kevin Meehan brings another punk-inspired element to The Ladybits sound, using a stripped-down trap kit to add spine, definition, and punch. A multi-instrumentalist like the other two members of The Ladybits, Kevin contributed an evocative organ part to their first single, “Little Boat,” and added lead and rhythm guitar to “March 30th,” acoustic slide guitar to “For Your Shelf,” and banjo licks to “Montana Winter.”
Renee named the band after their initial meeting onstage at Grumpy’s Underground at a songwriters showcase, and “The Ladybits” has stuck as a provocative tribute to women’s creativity, physicality, and autonomy in all things.
Building on their Orlando community-based origin story at Grumpy’s, The Ladybits have played locally at Stardust, Ten10 Brewery, Audubon Park Farmer’s Market, UCF, Fodor’s Grove, Far Reach Ranch, and Barley and Vine, have appeared on the current season “Melrose in the Mix” on WUCF TV. A live version of their single, “Little Boat,” is currently entered in the 2024 Tiny Desk Contest and can be viewed at https://youtu.be/-I-rjcyz6o4 . Prior to release, there is a preview lyrics video with all eight tracks and you can catch performance clips here.