So, You Want to Be a Taxi Girl?
The Montreal four-piece’s debut album, Static, is a frenetic document of trying, failing, and trying again.
By Kenna Clifford
Graphics by Sophia Pan
- Published on
I’m interrupting their jam session for this interview. Vera, Jamie, and Gabrielle are wine drunk in the “stuzzio,” a jam space affectionately named after the owner, Ryan Battistuzzi. They’re missing Lynn, their drummer, but her presence is made up for in hype. This is where the four hashed out what Static looks like now. “A long and enduring process,” Jamie laughs, “is I think how you’d start the sentence—it’s probably a run-on sentence. It took a very long time to make this album. We don’t put anything out that we’re not fully proud of. It’s not quality control to like… the anal retentive degree. But we really did take our time.” Taxi girls are far less laissez-faire with their composing than their choices in lovers. This project is their first full-length project, and it’s clear they wanted to get it right. “As much as we took our time in the idea phase, it’s not actually that far off,” Vera chimes in. “I think what you can hear on our album is how far we’ve come… it’s in all of the little details that we put into it.”
Static is largely about growing pains, a culmination of Jamie and Vera’s obliquely honest songwriting, frenetic drums and restless guitar that make it feel like you’re with them for the ride. There’s this silly, self-confident uncertainty to the lyrics that beat along Static with a bouncy flair. “I try and I try and I try,” Vera and Jamie sing in unison over Gabrielle’s ripping guitar riffs.
“We really intentionally wanted the songs to come from both of our perspectives, even if they were just from one experience… I feel like it really brought out the best in all our ideas.” Vera describes their working process as this ever-cumulative, living thing that is shaped by each member.
Static’s tone is sort of re-affirmingly fuzzy, a sonic reminder that no matter who you are or where you’re living, there’s a good chance (at least if you’re anything like me, or them) that no matter your age or location, you’ll still be dealing with complex sexual feelings for people with no bedframe and commitment issues as highlighted in “Red Flag Crush”, possibly fighting a losing battle with a cigarette addiction, and constantly trying your best. “I’m a very independent person, for better or for worse,” Gabi banters, when asked what would make her a red flag crush. Vera chimes in: “I think I’ve got some toxic masculine traits, maybe, like, in the sense that I sometimes give off vibes that I’m very in control of a situation when I’m absolutely, absolutely not.” “I think a little bit of, like, lonerism, slash solipsism, slash, uh, like, misanthropic tendencies,” Jamie jokes.
Since starting the project in 2022, the four have really spent time distilling their sound and their friendship. “I’ve, like, had all the feels, like, with Gab’s solos, I don’t know how she does it… and I still remember sending, like, you and Lynn the bass line for Auto Hysterics, and I was like, ‘This is the sexiest bassline I have ever written.’” Jamie turns to Gabrielle with a smile. “You kind of make a puzzle out of [the process],” Gabrielle chimes in. The three also give their flowers to Battistuzzi’s hand in the project. “Ryan would guide me. He would say, ‘oh, I like this idea better. Can you, can you work this part out?’ Or ‘make it slightly more rancid.’” Vera laughs.
Chatting with Taxi Girls feels like making new friends in the bathroom at the Heavenly show. They have an immediately infectious excitement for their project, each other, and the music they make. “We’ve been, like, really, like, pleasantly flooded with a lot of attention so far for the album,” Jamie notes with a palpable sense of pride at their project. “So we’ve been pretty busy with interviews and, like, planning the summer and practicing. Personally, my mind is on ‘okay, so when are we jamming next?’” Because the whole project is cumulative of all their current experiences, it really overarches into all the other spaces of the band member’s life.
It’s obvious that these relationships aren’t just in the legwork of production, but something that bleeds naturally into each member’s everyday life. They finish each other’s sentences and thoughts like lifelong friends, a sort of psychic connection that only really comes through when you’ve found a groove with your bandmates. Through the project is this levity and post-riot affection for each other, and all the other women they’ve encountered in the industry. It’s true camaraderie, and it’s extended to me immediately. “Have you seen Almost Famous? You’re literally Penny Lane!” Jamie coos, and the others nod in agreement. It feels like they’re taking me under their wing for a moment, like I’m being ushered into the inner workings of women who are a bit older than me but not necessarily any wiser, and certainly not any less fun; who are thinking about things like raising daughters and facilitating their careers, but they’re not so different from me. In a world that tells you women are roadkill at 30, it’s a good reminder that there’s always more fun to be had, more bad habits to pick up and quit.
That’s part of the fun of Static — It’s easy to laugh along to, which is part of what makes the album’s moments of honesty so fun. The album is winking at you and it feels like you’re winking back. On “Midnight Mixtape,” it lives in that “Cigarette lit, even though I quit.” In “Auto Hysterics,” it’s “Going out of my mind, kinda generic, but I’ll get it in time.” It’s tongue-in-cheek before it’s honest, like a shot before the acid. Just like taxi girls, we’re all just chasing our own tails, making it through life’s rush hour traffic, and looking to scratch that itch.
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