Care Bears On Fire Up With Girls Like It Loud

Is there such a thing as provocative pop punk? I never thought so until I dialed down the Brooklyn-based Care Bears on Fire. Their new album fills the gap between what some people expect kids to sing about and they want to sing about.

Formed when this trio of now now teenaged girls — Sophie (guitars and vocals), Izzy (drums and backing vocals), and Jena (bass and backing vocals) — hit fifth grade, they prove you can toss out all the stereotypes associated with the pop kid-core category.

There's more than a bit of New York attitude anti-pop culture sentiment from this trio. They keep it real.

They like their music loud. Hate friends who mooch. And think your little girl's iconic Barbie needs to eat something. So what if they appeared on Nickelodeon's True Jackson, VP, with Justin Bieber. There is something unmistakably anti-Bieber about them in that they are moving further away from the mass appeal and toward a more versatile niche.

"It's really important to be able to make your points and not feel scared to say what you think." — Sophie

Collaboration is also important to the trio, which has changed out bass players twice, first to become an all-girl band and then over creative differences. The newest member is Jena, who joined with their full-length album in 2009. The new EP, which this review covers, is decidedly more mature.

The EP, Girls Like It Loud, features four new songs, a cover, and three videos, including Barbie Eat A Sandwich and two versions of Everybody Else. The showcase songs are What I Could Be and ATM. They power through these tunes even with only one more year under their hemlines. Pass on the cover of Everybody Wants To Rule World. It's been done. And much better.


While the girls receive their fair share of criticism, they're maturing as a band with the promise to have fewer transitional pains as they mature. Sure, they are young and tackling the less taken path, but that is where many greats have come from over the years.

The music has an angry bent sometimes, but Care Bears On Fire try to deliver it all with a smile. In catching up on their early careers, I noted they don't always take the presentation seriously, but they take music and collaboration very seriously. They've learned a lot working with both Adam Schlesinger and Travis Clark in 2009.

Care Bears On Fire, Girls Like It Loud, Burns Brightly With A 4.2 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Twenty years from now, this will be the band that everybody will be reading about no matter where it goes or how it ends. One of these girls could easily be the next Joan Jett or Micki Steele, with the best possible endings. In the meantime, Sophie, Izzy, and Jena have a band that is already drawing in an older crowd.

Girls Like It Loud by the Care Bears On Fire is available on iTunes. On Amazon, you won't find Girls Like It Loud, but you might find a few notable tracks on Get Over It, including Barbie Eat A Sandwich.