Catherine DeNuvaring

After years of living as a U.S. expatriate in Europe, vocalist Pepa Le Pew climbed over the Berlin Wall just as it was coming down. Meanwhile, Sven Golly, a classically trained guitarist and refugee from the SoCal art-punk scene, was working as a critic reporting on Bay Area bands. They found each other, spent years haunting local loungecore clubs, and formed CATHERINE DENUVARING, the band they wanted to see that never existed—until now. Pepa amazes with her spectacular multilingual vocals—Spanish on "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" and "Quien Sera (Sway)," Portuguese on "Corcovado," German on "Falling in Love Again," French on the rest—and gives everything the guts and blowout intensity more associated with blues growlers like Etta James and Nina Simone. Sven Golly's electric fuzz uke adds even more power.