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Skip the Needle, Joh Chase, Tiny Vipers

Conor Byrne Pub

DESCRIPTION Skip The Needle is an Oakland-based queer female quartet made up of Bay Area superstars; Vicki Randle, Shelley Doty, Kofy Brown and Katie Cash who fashion punk, funk and soul influenced rock they like to call Black Dyke Rock. As the name implies, they are musically diverse and bring a biting, socially conscious message, delivered with radical joy. Formed in 2014, Skip The Needle has released two full-length albums and two EPs - Octavia Of Earth, Volume 2, inspired by black feminist icon Octavia E. Butler, released by Soulectric - A division of Little Village Foundation and digitally released by Side Hustle Records in 2024 and their latest release, Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up, released in 2025. Though playfulness and exuberance are an integral part of Skip The Needle’s performances, reflections on issues of justice and equity, especially black, queer and women’s rights are the driving force behind much of their collective writing. The songs on Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up reflect the idea that socially conscious music can edify, inspire and rejuvenate. Four distinctly different voices and musical styles coming together as one spawned the name Skip The Needle and their messages of hope and inspiration, delivered with driving, infectious funk, rock and soul. "There are no words to describe the impact on the mind, spirit, and senses that the four self-proclaimed "Black Dyke Rockers" create as the explosive Skip the Needle." Joh Chase is a Seattle-raised, Los Angeles–based artist whose decades-long dedication to songwriting and touring—including supporting Noah Gundersen and David Bazan—has culminated in a timeless, self-assured sound blending confessional folk with ethereal pop. Their 2024 album SOLO, released via Kill Rock Stars and co-produced with Dan Molad, marks a defining turning point, followed by a North American tour with Kate Nash and upcoming West Coast dates with Skip the Needle. Seattle’s Jesy Fortino has performed under the name Tiny Vipers since her teen years. Honing her craft in punk houses and squats, Fortino’s haunting folk elegies are as sparse as they are dense. People and times past wander through her songs like ghosts looking for a home, appearing and then vanishing into deft guitar playing that is reminiscent of John Fahey and Ry Cooder. Her first two full-length records, Hands Across the Void and Life On Earth (Sub Pop, 2007 and 2009, respectively) were masterworks of delicate, deliberate composition and instrumentation. Rarely has music this minimal made such a massive statement. Years of touring and critical acclaim brought Tiny Vipers a cult following. Despite this, she largely operates outside of the world of mainstream music. A series of incendiary experimental releases preceded her third LP Laughter (Ba Da Bing!, 2017). A collection of electronic tracks buried beneath a pane of frosted-glass tape hiss, Laughter shone a light on yet another facet of Fortino’s prismatic musical identity. 2021’s American Prayer EP saw a return to the acoustic music of her early releases, its three tracks setting an outstanding groundwork for her next full-length record. While Tiny Vipers has shared a stage with the likes of Patti Smith and Damo Suzuki, and has collaborated with Liz Harris (Grouper) as Mirrorring (releasing Foreign Body on Kranky Records in 2012), her artistic identity has remained as elusive and mysterious as her music. It is seldom that we encounter an artist as unique and singular as Tiny Vipers. Her upcoming full-length record is scheduled for release in 2025.