Tuuli

Jenny Vegas (guitar/vocals), Claire Blake (bass), Dawn Mandarino (guitar), and Michelle Lemoignan (drums) formed the Canadian power punk outfit Tuuli in 1997, with the ambition to assimilate Nuggets-styled garage punk (<a href="spotify:artist:0BNTrhhkZLsbcWAidMz98A">the Chocolate Watchband</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2iIn8H3l2NNBNHFpYKWbfo">the Kingsmen</a>) and Detroit rock (<a href="spotify:artist:4BFMTELQyWJU1SwqcXMBm3">the Stooges</a>) with more slanted, hook-laden indie in the vein of <a href="spotify:artist:4tpUmLEVLCGFr93o8hFFIB">Blondie</a> or <a href="spotify:artist:2uH0RyPcX7fnCcT90HFDQX">the Manic Street Preachers</a>. Retaining a base in Toronto, Tuuli worked a series of Canadian music festivals and began a handful of infrequent tours to the United States, opening for the likes of Kittie and <a href="spotify:artist:1LB8qB5BPb3MHQrfkvifXU">Cheap Trick</a>, and peppering the visits with sporadic spots on a few national television shows. Their reverence for their heroes could be heard early, on EPs like the limited self-released Hotrods & Honeysuckle and the more widely available Rockstar Potential disc, offering an alternative to the <a href="spotify:artist:1co4F2pPNH8JjTutZkmgSm">Ramones</a> idolatry of similar girl groups like <a href="spotify:artist:2c0qomdZabcCyqTZ5M9msd">the Donnas</a>. ~ Dean Carlson, Rovi