Review by "Blah, Blah, Blah", April '96
Review by "Daily News", May '96
Review by "Daily News (L.A.)", May '96
Review by "RIP", September '96
Review by "The Detroit News", September
'96
Review by "Kerrang", April '97
Review by Matt Levine
The singles
Albums
Don't look back in angora. Posh girls in negligible negligees or authentic fem-punks with grit and guts to spare? Fluffy take the stand.
"Lets do porn shots." Amanda Rootes moves away from the Fluffy-in-a-line-up-against-the-wall pose and nuzzles Bridgette Jones to demonstrate the outcome of a recent photo session. "He was a real f***ing sexist pig this block," spits Amanda, Fluffy's 23 year-old singer and guitarist "but he was so matter of fact about it - 'I want four girls gagging for a shag' - it wasn't too offensive. He wanted to pin back Bridgette's T-shirt tighter so you could see her tits better. I was grabbing her vagina from behind, like this, and f***ing her, like this." Where does his work appear, this photographer? The Sun, The Star, Fiesta? "Melody Maker" says Amanda. "Now look pretty, girls. Look shiny. Look Jim Morrison." Fluffy fall about in a heap and then collapse on a sofa amidst the clutter of their rehearsal rooms in Holloway, North London. "It's trouser day today," remarks 22 year-old Bridgette Jones, the bands other guitarist. No baby doll lingerie. Bah! Angie Adams (20, drums) and Helen Storer (20, bass) gather their possessions together and effect make-up adjustments. "I need some new Britpop trainers for this tour," Angie announces. "Ooh! I had a really sick dream last night. I dreamt I fell down the stairs and broke my leg so I couldn't go on tour. It was great." Fluffy's road manager Seb arrives. The girls gather up their clutch bags, we leave the building and dance around their new tour bus. It's got two beds but there's no linen. Luckily Fluffy have each brought a duvet from home.
Itineraries are banded out. 'Do you want spares for, er, boyfriend like?' Seb asks. Amanda takes one for her steady, Tommy freak, lead singer in freaks Of Desire, whose bassist and guitarist have produced The Fluff's singles 'Hypersonic' and 'Husband'. Nobody else takes an extra schedule except Brigitte, who wavers over a booklet then bands it back. 'What's the point? He won't phone me anyway.' We adjourn to the Continental Snack Bar on nearby Holloway Road. en route we are passed by a succession of football coaches ferrying black and white striped Geordies to Highbury for that night's Arsenal vs. Newcastle match. The boys inside ratio the windows like chimpanzees as flub walk past oblivious. It's not just men, though. Two singles in and everybody has their Fluffy opinion. How about the bitchy girly angle, 'they're so obvious, flaunting themselves like brazen hussies and they can't even play.' 'Who said that?' says Amanda, smiling. 'We've had that since the beginning, You're crap'. 'You're miming to a playback'. It's not an issue for us and we're certainly not dressing down.' Angie, who has just resumed from a holiday in her native Philippines, admits to certain doubts. 'I've started worrying about what I wear on stage in case it's wrong." "You shouldn't,' Amanda retorts. -You got to the point with criticism that you can't do anything. We're not tour glamour models anyway. I've noticed a few articles recently have got a bit edgier. They're portraying us as harder, drinkers wild girls. It's not just face value.' 'We do get psyched up,' says Helen, the newest member of the band (she replaced Pandora Ormsby-Gore on bass last summer). 'We're very nervous before a gig so we drink half a bottle of vodka each and go, 'Oh, my God!', then we get on stage and we pretend to be confident and by the third song we might start believing it.
Fluffy formed "a whole two years ago" after Amanda and Angie were inspired by a jazz-blues Singer in one of Old Compton Street's gay cafes. They were attending college in London at the time , studying Art & Design. "We lasted six weeks. Just sat at the back laughing, getting in trouble and leaving at lunch break. Angie learnt the drums. Our songs were complete rubbish. Bridgette did her A levels then she joined and we rehearsed in my living room with shit amps and no microphone." Pandora Ormsby-Gore, a member of one of London's most celebrated demimonde families (auntie Alice used to go out with Eric Clapton and died last year of heroin abuse), completed the Initial picture. But she left. "Pandora wanted to act and that's it" says Rootes of her subsequent appearances on Television in Casualty and The Bill. Ormsby-Gore's connections ensured the band were objects of plenty of social gossip, in Tatler and Evening Standard's London Diary, for example "I wouldn't exactly call it great publicity, "the singer wasn't exactly hard and punk. It was all about toffs and public schools." Storer, who comes from Manchester and used to work in a fruit and veg shop, takes umbrage at the fact "we al get called posh when that represented her".
Austrian-born Bridgette points out that "only in England do they care. It's so over the top. People think we've got big country houses." The daughter of a London publican, rootes was raised above a bar in covent garden ."My earliest memories is of dad taking me into the gents toilet when he was cleaning it and mum tut-tutting because it was no place for a young girl.
Fluffy's debut single "Hypersonic" was released on Parkway Records September '95, the same day the group made the British debut, performing at Tower Records in Piccadilliy, John Major was in the building at the time buying a Mantovani Album, prompting Amanda to wonder aloud "Maybe he's come in for a seven Inch" Fnar.
Gentlemen, that reminds me, The cover of 'Hypersonic' does indeed feature seven inches of pink, tumid, throbbing plastic Exhibit A one personal massage unit Amanda Rootes, for the use of "Bridgitte gave me that vibrator the Christmas before last because4 I'd just split up from a boyfriend. We put it on the cover 'cos it was a joke and we didn't have a better idea and the song - 'gotta reach my superclimax' - is about masturbating things. So why the f*** shouldn't we?". If the vibrator stands for - gasp - sexual empowerment, then Fluffy's last single 'Husband' continued the emasculation theme. 'I was sitting in a car with the band and they were going on about their boyfriends - 'Oh, he doesn't like my hair this colour; he doesn't like this lipstick; he says this skirt makes me look fat' it really annoyed me. Amanda has tried writing sunny days songs "Wake up it's a beautiful country house, I can't do it, I'm quite happy but I'd rather write 'Your f***ing pig, I'm so depressed' it's more inspiring - people don't listen to our lyrics anyway". But if they listen to the music Fluffy hope they detect influences that are mostly American punk and hard-core: Iggy and The Stooges, MC5, Ramones, Rancid. Nothing currently English is given much house room by Rootes, who lives with her punk singles, her cats and her yellow 1977 Les Paul Jnr. "We're happy to avoid the Britpop bandwagon, . In America they go 'Britpop - ha ha.' It's too lame, too poppy, too many people singing in cockney accents wearing T-shirts with funny logos instead of pushing over a mosh pit and jumping up and down." The girls made their live debut at CBGB's on the Bowery at Bleecker, the cradle of New York punk rock in the mid '70s. Adding an air of verisimilitude Blondie's drummer Clem Burke came with his girlfriend. Early success was followed by what Amanda refers to "as our Beatles in Germany period when we played nine nights in Amsterdam and we were shit".
Brigitte Jones wrinkles her nose. "It was hell. I hated it. The people eat too much Edam. We trailed through awful venues like The last Watering Hole and Hotel Kabul in the red light district. The audiences were two pig farmers and a pig." So for light relief Fluffy had no option but to avail themselves. Amsterdam's traditional temptations? "Yeah We bought this really strong hash. No, it was grass Superskynk, It was so strong we shared a joint in the hotel and watched the Dutch version of Big Bird on television. We laughed ourselves sick the fell asleep before the gig".
In New York they smoked what Rootes calls "The Weed That Killed Elvis. It was lethal. We were scared even to go for a pee, We were tripping for hours, watching Sesame street Although Flufy are sorted for England and will record their first album for Parkway, the label co-owned by their publicists, for the rest of the world the have signed a two-album, $500,00 deal with The Enclave, a new label set up by renowned American A&R man Tom Zutaut. "Tom was the only person we met we trusted', Rootes
recalls. "The sexism in the industry is amazing. We went to A&R meetings where the men treated us like a date. They, were taking their wedding rings off and throwing them on the table. One chairman of a massive company didn't even shake hands. The first thing he said was, 'Come hare and a me a kiss'. No f***ing way! - Tom's not like that. He's really notorious 'cos one of the Nymphs (singer Inger Lorre) pissed on his desk. He's a bit businessman but he's very nice and he's signed The Stone Roses and Guns N Roses when he worked for geffen." Fluffy's desire is to "punk out the Americans". They think they can. Why? "because Americans are not so narrow-minded towards women and because punk never happened there properly first time around." Manhatten-based Zutaut concurs. He signed Fluffy after seeing them play a Radio One simulcast show at the Camden Underworld to "this jaded audience full of Brit boys with their arms folded going 'you're crap, so entertain me'."
As with Dave grohl - who invited the band to support Foo Fighters in
Dublin and may produce their next single - fluffy floated Zutaut's boat
immediately. "I was launching my new label and wanted something fresh ,
exciting and different for my first signing. If you look at the genre of
alternative female groups then Veruca Salt are the grunge, Elastica are
the new wave and fluffy are punk. They're also highly intelligent, articulate,
dedicated and sincere. People look at the lingerie and think 'oh blonde
singer in a mini-skirt, as he must be stupid'. That isn't the case, Fluffy
are passionate about their music. History and experience tells me the passionate
ones are usually successful." Over here in cynical old Britain much focus
so far has centered on Amanda's knickers or, rather, her lack of them.
Indeed, the Sharon Stone of punk told one society columnist that she wasn't
slipping into Sloggis for anyone. "I'm not about to start wearing knickers
because people think it's un-lady like." Sightings of Amanda's bottom include
an episode when the nature-loving singer took part in a music paper's festive
drinking contest. According to Parkway's Phil Savidge, the boozing slog
was enlivened by several games of pool. "Oddly enough , Amanda was wearing
a short dress and for some reason all the boys were standing behind her
when she took to the table. It was like a Carry On movie with the journalist
as Kenneth Connor mouthing 'Phwoooooaaarh!' every time she took a shot."
Now even Fluffy's fan-mail has posterior motivies: "We get knickers sent
to use through the post for her," says Savidge. "Boys send them with notes
saying "Please, wear these' They're all clean!" The men don't now, but
Helen hopes that the little girls understand Fluffy, "We want to inspire
women to pick up guitars ,We don't want them to have a problem with us.
We don't have any problem with anyone except some of the spotty boys with
bad haircuts we've played with so far who clap sarcastically at soundchecks
and then have this attitude: "We're supporting Fluffy Wahay!' Like what?
Like they're gonna pull us?" Touring holds no real fears either, despite
the inevitable barrage of 'get your tits out' from the groundlings. According
to Brigitte, "the heckling doesn't vary very much. 'Do you only play barre
chords?' is quite good. But what is a barre chord? My favourite was in
Manchester when some of my equipment blew up and someone shouted: 'Get
your dad to buy you a new amp', I liked that one." It's getting late, Fluffy
have to return to Notting Hill, pack their suitcases and go to the launderette
to wash their smalls. Today Holloway, tomorrow Glasgow. Bridgette has abet
on with Helen to wear the same pair of knickers every day of the tour.
"Wear dark ones so they show through your dress." Amanda pleads, but Bridgette
disagrees. "No, light ones show up the stains better."
FLUFFY IS F0UR HEDONISTIC WEST LONDON GIRLS with an average age of 19. They Sound like Hole, wear skimpy baby dole dresses, and the cover, of their first single, 'Hypersonic,' has a photo of a vibrator on its cover.
Singer Amanda Rootes is nursing a hangover (she drank too much free lager at the Bluetones' album-launch party the night before) and reflecting on the mixed media attention Fluffy has provoked in Britain over the past six months. "It's all a bit surreal, like being on a roller-coaster ride and not knowing when it's gonna stop,' she says. "Lots of the press we've had has focused on us being a bunch of rich girls with no talent, but then we've come to expect that. Our boyfriends used to sit around when we were rehearsing and shout, 'You're shit' You should he catted Racket! You shouldn't be in a band girls can't play guitars!' We are women in a Predominated industry, and so we're always gonna have to prove that we're better than anyone else. The bottom line is that we're a punk band making a toud noise, and all we want people to do is jump around at our gigs.'
Fluffy has less than a dozen songs to its name, a new single, 'Husband,' has been released in the new year-but already the band is in demand with prepubescent girls who have taken them on as role models and with record company types who see a British Hole as a lucrative prospect. Although he missed the band's appearance at New York City's CBGB's (which was, incidentally, the band's first ever gig), former Geffen A&R man Tom Zutaut made Ftuffy the first signing to his new Enclave label on the basis that the group is "pure punk,' and he is convinced it can break in America. Rootes is more cautious. 'Well, we'll just have to see how we do there, she says. "We are definitely prepared to work at it. We really love touring: We totally get into the buzz of playing every night and then drinking ourselves into oblivion."
But before the members of Fluffy take on America with its raw, unrefined
punk noise, they have their image to worry about. "It's getting to the
stage where we are considering dressing down for gigs because we're so
sick of hearing guys shouting, 'Get your, tits out: But then I think, F***it,
this is the way we f***ing are, and if you don't like it, then f*** off:"
And who would argue with that?
Fluffy's fuzzies
For the first time in recent memory, a new British band has come along
that has something to good say about America. "Oh, we love it here," said
singer Amanda Rootes of London-based Fluffy. "it's so interesting. Every
city is so different from England. It's all like a movie. And the food's
so good, too." Makes quite a difference from the grumbling one hears from
across the pond just prior to a U.S. tour by Elastica, Blur, Oasis, Supergrass
or Suede. The punk-inspired Fluffy - Bridget Jones (guitar), Holen Storer
(bass), Angle Adams (drums) and Rootes - open for Boss Hog tonight at the
Troubadour in West Hollywood. Formed two years ago, the high-energy quartet,
which makes a noise that's anything but fluffy, has just released a maxi-single,
'Husband' (Tim/Kerr Records). The band is the first signing of Enclave,
a new label set up by Tom Zutaut, the ex-Geffen talent scout who signed
Guns N' Roses and the Stone Roses. "All the music we like is American,"
Rootes, 21, said from San Francisco. 'We're really into New York punk.
A lot of the English record companies seem not to think America is that
important. They're into that jangly guitar nonsense." For Rootes, another
refreshing aspect of Flutty's visit is the lack of fuss made of gender.
"It doesn't seem like such a big deal here that we're women musicians,"
she said. "We've already met two girl drummers. In England, they take such
a fuss out of it. Another thing, somebody walked up to me the other day
and said they really liked my lyrics. That would never happen at home."
After their current tour, Fluffy return to London to record with Sex Pistols
producer Bill Price. The album is expected in late summer.
Although the four scrappy girls from Brit-rocking Fluffy are dolled
up in their platform-and-miniskirt, Suzi-Quattro best, they behave like
ladies while dining at an upscale San Franciso Mexican restaurant. But
when the coffee arrives --- accompanied by cream in a clear plastic ketchup
bottle --things turn downright nasty. "Hey! Who does this remind you of?"
sneers blonde bombshell bassist Helen Storer, squeezing the container until
cream squirts across the table. Singer/guitarist Amanda Rootes doubles
up in hysterics --- she immediately gets the reference, but isn't spilling
any beans on the gent in question. Even Fluffy's quieter half --- axewoman
Briget Jones and petite powerhouse drummer Angela Adams ---- crack up.
Seems they know about this poor "cream" guy too. Risque behavior? Not when
you consider that the cover art for the group's first single, "Hypersonic,"
was a photo of a monstrous ribbed vibrator, in keeping with the song's
blatant masturbation theme. Even the "Husband" track (just re-released
on Tim/Kerr --- a full-length debut disc is being polished up for the new
Enclave label) is a direct dis on men, culled from Rootes' experiences
with overprotective beaus who've tried to keep her from playing rock 'n'
roll."My last boyfriend would fight about everything I did," she growls,
then apes his tough talk: "You're going out wearing that?! You'd better
be home by this time! You're going out with those butch slags again? They're
a bad influence on you!'" From such putdowns arose the concept of Fluffy
---- a deceptively dubbed all-girl quartet that can kick the holy bejesus
out of their swaggering testosterone-intoxicated peers. "I've never wanted
to make it harder for us than it already was," the London-bred Rootes swears,
"but the name came from this lesbian novel called Fluffy Butch --that and
because my boyfriend was always calling us 'butch slags.' So we thought
it was a joke, an ironic thing, to call ourselves Fluffy. Because anyone
who takes us on face value alone will be shocked when they see us play
live."So how do these hard-working, hard-rocking gals find romantic happiness?
With a boy ho won't squirt the cream too soon? "It helps if you go out
with a guy who's. . ." Rootes begins."In a band!" the other Fluff-sters
chirp in unison. Rootes sighs, rolls her eyes. "Some guys in bands can
be assholes," she clarifies, "but it just makes it easier if you're doing
the same job, because you can relate to the same things. If you come home
and you're really tired and pissed off because you've had a bad review,
they'll nderstand"
by Melanie Gilbert
Feminist and sexy are two concepts not often paired in polite conversation.
But Fluffy, a high-energy punk rock quartet from London, stalks the stage
dressed in leopared-print minis, skimpy baby-doll dresses and stacked heels,
while playing songs that challenges stereotypes and attitudes against women.
They are a snarling band of female punk rockers with a socially and sexually
liberating message. Fluffy's debut album, Black Eye (Enclave, release date
September 17) features tunes that are both liberating (for women) and lacerating
(for just about everyone else). The title trackdescribes an abusive boyfriend,
"Husband" fumes about cheating spouses and "Cheap" rages against feeling
exploited. Fluffy's tunes have been sung by women country singers and alternative
types alike. But they deliver the same message with the claws sharpened
and ready to exact their pound of flesh. they've made quite an impact in
Britain where prepubescent girls have taken them on as role models. It's
edgy, raw and tough music delivered in classic, unapologetic, in-your-face
punk style. "We are women in a male-dominated industry, and so we're always
going to have to prove that we're better than anyone else. The bottom line
is that we're a punk band making a loud noise." Sing it, sister, sing it.
What to do: Lead singer/guitarist, Amanda Rootes, guitarist Brigitte Jones,
bassist Helen Storer and drummer Angie Adams comprise Fluffy. The band
opens for the Neurotic Outsiders at the Sanctum, in their first U.S. tour,
Friday at 8 p.m. caption: Fluffy, the punk rock quartet of twentysomething
Brits, storms the Sanctum in Pontiac when they open for the Neurotic Outsiders
Fridy night.
by Tony Romando
3/5 - At one point in tonight's show, a small frenzy breaks out in the
tiny mosh pit in front of the stage. A look of relief crosses Fluffy singer
Amanda Roote's face. She and her band are trying everything short of hiking
up their dresses to fire up a crowd that simply has no spark. On this,
their third U.S tour, Fluffy are demanding tobe taken seriously. They romp
through Coney Island High with the attitudes of heavyweight champions but
the status of flyweight contenders. Fluffy's problem is that the crowd
peppered with snot-riddled teens and 30-year-old jocks just won't let themseleves
go. Rootes, looking like a cross-pollination between Drew Barrymore and
Marilyn Monroe, dedicates 'Black Eye' "to the dykes in the audience tonight",
which only confuses everybody even more. It takes a technical disaster
that sees Angie Adams' drums take on a life of their own to work up a pulse.
They unleash the tightest 'Nothing' they've probably ever played, and finish
off with 'Hypersonic' and a fearsome 'Scream'. By then it's too late, but
for five brief minutes all ears - and not eyes - are on Fluffy.
1. Hypersonic
2. Crossdresser
3. Psychofudge
Their first single was released between September and November '95.
This one is with the ex-bass player Pandora Ormsby-Gore, sacked for being
too posh.
Husband (Second single) 
1. Husband
2. Deny Everything
3. Cheap
This one was released in January '96.
5 Live 
1. I Wanna be Your Lush
2. Deny Everything
3. Pschofudge
4. Bed of Vomit
5. Scream
Recorded live in New York, Apparently released July '96, not available
in the UK.
