By Chris Nafekh, Staff Writer

Published in print Jan 14, 2015

The weary winter months have their ways of tiring most people. It was not a surprise to find out all four members of the girl-punk band Daddy Issues had colds last Friday, the night of their show at New York Pizza that featured them, Echo Courts and The Toothe.

“I feel brain-dead,” said drummer Hannah Hawkins, who wore three pairs of socks hoping to combat the cold. Mid-day illness caused singer Lo Davy to cancel, with a Facebook post that said the band would play without her.

But punk rock doesn’t go to bed early, and the girls had looked forward to playing. Nobody wanted to let a cold get in the way. Later that night, Daddy Issues played a stellar set, with every band member present. The Toothe played first, and their upbeat folk rock had people stomping. Echo Courts finished the night with entrancing dream rock, performing songs off of their latest release “Ice Cream Social.”

By pushing through cold season, and scheduling a number of anticipated events in 2015, Daddy Issues shows they have strong musical presence in Greensboro, and don’t plan on disappearing anytime soon. Early in 2015, they will announce the release of a new E.P, but gave very few details about it.

At the end of January, a tour will take them through Richmond, V.A., and then they travel north, playing at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, N.Y. After that, they’re off to Manhattan to play at Cake Shop, beside the psych-punk band Scully.

“We’re super excited,” said Davy. “We’re getting a tour bus, sponsored by Taco Bell” She laughed. “Just kidding.”

Later in March, the band will open for La Luz at Kings Barcade in Raleigh. “Crazy thing about La Luz,” said bassist Madeline Penny, “is that playing for them has been a pipe dream for us. It’s all happening.”

On top of this, they will be releasing a seven-inch vinyl through Punk Fox Records, based out of Manchester, U.K. Chris Garland, who works for the label, enjoys searching for up-and-comers and giving his support.

“Chris Garland found our music through bandcamp.com and contacted us,” said Lindsay Sprague, lead guitarist. “He’s a great guy, I’d like to invite him over for pizza. We’re making 200 copies, 50 of them for merchandise.” The other 150 singles will circulate throughout England. Although Daddy Issues has no plans for an international tour, they haven’t ruled out the possibility.

These impressive moments in the young bands life mark one year of music-making. “We played our first show a little over a year ago,” Penny noted. The band’s friendship was organic. They met at Guilford College, and later formed Daddy Issues. Since then, their popularity around the Triad has gained a lot of attention. Jordan Greene of Triad City Beat said they stepped into the scene with “attitude, skill and sheer energy.” The Bottom String called them “original, authentic and honest as hell.”

“Our music is like a ‘Hellraiser 6 and Brittany Spears crossover,” commented Davy.

“We love old ‘70s vintage foreign film. We try to bring that aesthetic into our music,” said Hawkins. “Think old B-movies. Our music is like if you mixed ‘Showgirls’ with ‘Endless Summer.’”

As a skilled young band with ambition and attitude, Daddy Issues has brought the punk attitude back to Greensboro. Their success within one year speaks to the cities need for brave and rebellious musicians. Daddy Issues has fulfilled that need through both art and passion.

“The cool thing about garage rock,” Hawkins added, “is that it’s never perfect. You can mess up, and that’s authentic. Not every show is going to be super awesome, but we try to make every show super awesome.”