Shout out to North Carolina bands. We North Carolinians love when you approach our ears with songs that make us proud to be from the same state as you. Babe Haven is an excellent example of one of these bands.
They are an all female, queer punk band who originally started out in Boone (as of this 2023 Mountain Times article). The members include Naomi Poesel (guitar/ vocals), Lillie Della Penna (lead vocals), Kat Savidge (drums) and Julia Lynn (bass). Babe Haven has a few releases under their belt like their self titled EP, “Babe Haven” and “Uppercut”, which is a full length album released last year in May.
Obviously, I’m from North Carolina, so I have a little bit of bias when it comes to musicians sprouting from this state, but Babe Haven has the talent and sound to become a true North Carolina staple in the music world.
Also, Almost all these tracks are FCC inappropriate. Plug your ears if you hate cursing, dweebs.
“Babe Haven” – Released on Spotify December 3, 2021
“Bad Witch”
I think of the four tracks on this release, “Bad Witch” and “Movie Night” stand out to me. This track checks all the boxes of what you want from an early release in a band’s discography as catchy, danceable and probably really fun to play live. I’d love to see this live and see how the band treats this. You can feel how much everyone is invested in the band’s sound just from this one track too, which is significant in the success of any band or any group ever – buy in.
“Movie Night”
I really enjoy the warbly guitar in this song. The lyrics are chill and in total, the track feels a little more psychedelic because of the vocals and guitar mixing together.
“Uppercut” – Released on May 15, 2023
“Uppercut”
The opening track and the title track all wrapped into one hunky, heavy beautiful thick sound that resonates with more than my ears. It’s a holistic body experience.
“Slim Jim”
This song has the best kind of corny vibe interwoven into its threads. It’s a weird dive into the writing style of this band and their minds. Babe Haven is definitely angry, but they’re doing it in a funny way. I love it.
“Strangers in Real Life Friends in My Head”
I don’t know. This track clicks really well in my head. The opening fast paced drums and bass go vrrm and I love this feeling of heavy, heavy deep throated noise shooting down my soul. The warmth floods into my head, my stomach, just everywhere around me.
“Daddy’s Lil Grrrl”
The opening guitar reminds me of Sonic Youth, another great band (I love Kim Gordon). Then the vocals hit perfectly on this track, which swept me into a beautiful fury by the end of the song.
Where’s Our Haven?
Babe Haven’s limited discography is their only downfall in my eyes. I know they do a good job of traveling the area and have done quite a bit of touring throughout the United States too. In Raleigh, they’ll be playing at the Pour House on February 23, so if you get a kick out of their sound feel free to check them out while they’re around.
I can’t wait to see where this band continues to strive towards. They have a new album coming out in the late spring called “Nuisance”.
