Skinny Bitches Debut An EP In Toronto

Four months after the break up of the General Staff, Ricardo Temporao found himself contemplating what he might do next in music. What happened was a bit unexpected.

When he picked up his guitar and long-time friend Robyn Craig sat down at the drums, they kicked a few sets back and forth to see what would click. By the time they wrapped their initial jam session, it was "just different enough" to start an alternative indie rock/pop duo called Skinny Bitches.

By June, Skinny Bitches gained enough confidence to book their first show, one they later described as playing the Thunderdome with slightly nicer bathrooms. And from that show forward, they picked up some more (about once a month) before settling down to self-produce a debut EP.

The Skinny Bitches show promise in Toronto. 

Although it has yet to be released to the broader market, the 6-pack EP shows plenty of promise for the Toronto-based duo. All they need is a bigger audience. Give them some time. They're working it out.

Their first notable release in advance of the EP was a mini-movie music video, sporting a plot thread about a gummy bear drug bust gone bad. The video, presumably produced and directed by Temporao, showcases a few friends in a campy, modernized pulp fiction-like vignette with Tarantino influences.


The song, Gunsmoke, is one of the hardest hitting tracks off the EP. It demonstrates the duo's ability to play hard without losing their affinity for harmony. It also foreshadows that Temporao most often adds alternative grit to the music while Craig brings in more popish sensibilities.

These contrasting and complementing vocals add a unique dimension to the music, with most variations dependent on who takes the lead or if they approach it as a duet. Nowhere is this more obvious than the opening tracks.

The balance of the self-released debut EP.

Just A Little Different isn't instrumentally as hard as Gunsmoke, but retains its pitch-perfect urgency with Temporao taking the lead. Craig supports him with backing vocals that lend just enough richness as the song builds toward a briskly paced climax in the last third of the song.

Rattlesnake follows, with Craig taking the lead. As the dominant vocalist here, Craig sounds great even if her technique sometimes overshadows her emotive ability. It's also unfortunate that some of the chorus lyrics distract from an otherwise solid song (maybe because one line forces it a few beats too long).

Everything's Cool But Nothing's Exciting brings Temporao and Craig back together as a near equal duo. The five-minute track captures the best of their ability — vocals and instruments. It's a sharp and urgent track, one that sets the duo apart from any number of new bands.

Let's Get Lost is a daydream, but with sexier overtones. Although the band put the track out as a video, this version plays more restrained than the EP. Notably, the instrumental sections are bigger between the verse, making the final cut superior in comparison.


As is the case with some duos, it all works better when they work harder to deliver a fuller sound. That often means bigger music that allows for more passion behind the production. This is also probably why, despite the right lyrics, the last track on the EP left a somewhat flat aftertaste.

Is You Sufferin? is a good experimental duet that only gets a little lost in the execution. The vocals are right, but the mostly percussionless composition is too light. It needs more than a guitar strum to carry it.

Skinny Bitches' Debut EP Shakes Up 6.8 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

Skinny Bitches will be a band to watch break out of Toronto. Overall, the debut EP is strong with four superior standouts. Since their debut EP isn't available via most digital marketplaces, the album can be purchased from the band's Bandcamp page.

Temporao and Craig are asking $1 for a single track, but the EP is also offered up as a "name your price." The cool thing to do here would be to offer up enough to help fund their next EP. You can also support the band on Facebook or follow their blog. They haven't updated anything much since the holidays, but we expect them to kick it up again soon.