Psych-Rock Purple Rhinestone Eagle Soars High
Andrea Genevieve is a woman of many talents. Not only can she channel the fury of Blue Cheer while fronting Purple Rhinestone Eagle, the Portland guitarist can negotiate with a five-year-old like nobody’s business—which, depending on who you talk to, might actually be more impressive than the former skill. While it’s apparent from the trio’s latest album, The Great Return, that Genevieve has a knack for shredding, her child-minding prowess is revealed a little more subtly over the course of her conversation with the Straight. As she chats on the line from PDX about what prompted the band—which also includes singer-bassist Morgan Ray Denning and singer-drummer Ashley Spungin—to relocate to the Pacific Northwest from Philadelphia in 2007, you’d never guess that Genevieve is simultaneously brokering a deal with the precocious little girl under her charge. Today’s bargaining chips: tacos. Obviously, there’s no set protocol for a day job when it comes to rock ’n’ roll types, but given Genevieve’s Ozzy Osbourne–worshipping ways, you don’t entirely expect the self-professed metalhead to be playing nanny like a regular Mary Poppins. Nor are you quite ready for the news that the droning psychedelic jams heard on The Great Return are a thing of the past for the all-girl contingent. “The next one is going a little differently,” Genevieve reveals. “I think we’re all in agreement that we want it to be heavier and louder and faster; we want it to be more metal-inspired.” While menacing tunes like the sludgy growler “Burn It Down” and the tripped-out Middle Eastern roller “Scorpio Moon” are still a source of pride for the gals—especially since the recording was wrenched out in just three days—Genevieve says that retooling sonically has been on everyone’s mind. “As soon as we got back from tour [in September], we started working on it,” she says. Where The Great Return leans heavily on imagery tied to the moon, death, and rebirth—“but without being all hippie”, Genevieve insists—the forthcoming effort promises to delve into another area of the girls’ psyches, although they aren’t ready to unveil specifics just yet. But the singer-guitarist says that in all likelihood, the next record will also be a conceptual piece along the lines of their current release. In the meantime, though, Genevieve will continue to have her own adventures in baby-sitting land, balancing studio time with sessions on the swing set. And she seems more than up to the challenge of such multitasking. As the interview draws to a close, the frontwoman reveals that she’s secretly moved locations mid-chat and is now en route to her young companion’s home. You’re pretty much destined for greatness if you can talk shop while navigating traffic and the whims of a child without missing a beat.
