When Moon Blood first flashed on the scene three years ago, singer Sinead Kravetz had plenty to say, but like most new singers, she was still finding her footing. Opening with Kravetz yelling, “Fear my blood!” 2016’s Cramp demo was a powerful and lightning-fast introduction to the band, with the entire record clocking in under six minutes. The band is equally brash on Moon Blood’s latest EP, Violent Acts (limited-edition yellow vinyl is available at runninginplacerecords.com, and the quartet will celebrate its release February 2 at Cornish Pasty Co.), but Kravetz’s vocal delivery has intensified with confidence and purpose.
She admits that fronting a band wasn’t easy at first. “It made me so nervous. I had never really yelled or screamed before for a band, and I didn’t know how I would sound,” Kravetz says. “And then I finally did it.”
Influenced by Riot Grrrl (Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney) and hardcore punk (Dirt, Crass), Moon Blood blends aggressive instrumentation with the singer’s politically minded, feminist lyrics. While Kravetz herself is vegan and has been straight edge since she was a teen, she’s quick to add that not everyone in the band claims the same identity. “I’m all for spreading the message, but I don’t like anything that violently pushes people to be a certain way,” she adds. “That approach doesn’t work.”
That said, the name Violent Acts isn’t meant to be ironic—it refers, very literally, to the physical and mental violence Kravetz has overcome throughout her life. “Most of the songs are talking about me being in an abusive relationship when I was younger,” as well as growing up “in a family of addicts,” she says. The EP “is meant to represent all the violence I went through, and what it feels like to have to process those things and still not be okay sometimes. I just feel like it’s really important to talk about, because there’s so many people who are struggling right now. This release is heavy with all of that.”
Moon Blood with Sh*t Dogma, Same Sex Mary, Dark Black, Brett Vee. February 2, 8 p.m., free. Cornish Pasty Co., 702-862-4538.
