Video: Estee Louder - Ten Dirty Fingers

Columbus Alive (2013): Estee Louder

Columbus Alive Locals - Estee Louder

March 13th, 2013

Their chemistry may well have something to do with their longevity: The band’s been at it since 1999. That’s when Estee Louder cut their first, eponymously titled EP, and started opening for legendary Columbus acts like New Bomb Turks and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. For the next five years, the band gigged around Columbus, and generally just had a good time. 

“Fun’s important,” Ray Ray said. “I like having fun.” 

Important to the band, and to someone trying to describe their music: Louder plays exuberant, galloping rock ‘n’ roll. Their songs are propelled by bright, maddeningly catchy guitar riffs and Light-Brown Wolfe’s hyperkinetic drumming. Of their first and only LP, 2004′s Ohio’s Best, Allen said, “It’s a good road trip record.” She’s right. Tracks like “Bob City” and “I Was a Teenage Mullet” are sun-drenched songs, concise and hook-laden, evocative of the open road and the - yep - fun that’s to be had on it. 

It was at a release party for Ohio’s Best, back in 2005, that Estee Louder played its last show. In the years that followed, the band went on hiatus though; according to Ray Ray, “We always kind of wanted to get back together.” And, now, that’s just what they’re doing.

New Additions: Estee Louder 7" single

On occasion, I get to talk about bands I actually saw play live, and Estee Louder is one of them. They were something of a supergroup, bringing in members of The Velveteens, Monster Zero, Templeton, Mudflap Girls From Venus and other 90s Columbus bands to back lead singer Ray Ray with a loud, bruising rawk assault. Their debut EP released on Burnt Herd in 2001 encapsulates the sound, though their 2004 album Ohio's Best is worth picking up as well.

Know Yer Band: Estee Louder

Band: Estee Louder

Members
Ray Ray: vocals
Annie Light-Brown-Wolf: drums/vocals
Anne Spurgeon/Resa Johnson/Mickey Marie: guitar/vocals
Emily Ann Allen: bass/vocals

Releases
2001 - Estee Louder 7" single (Burnt Herd)
2004 - Ohio's Best album (Diaphragm Records)

New Additions: The Unkindest Cut Of All seven inch single by Monster Zero

One of the fun parts of this project is finding the connections between various bands of the 2000s that are linked in the 1990s. For example, Monster Zero features Brad Caulkins, who would go on to play in The Jive Turkeys and The Sun, and Emily Allen, who would go on to play in Templeton, Estee Louder and The Means, which included her brother David Wayne Allen that played on third Monster Zero single. All that said, Monster Zero has grungy indie rock sound perfectly at home for the mid-90s, and it makes sense where this family tree extends off to in the various directions.