A Closer Look: The Aces

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Music is a universal language. It speaks and heals the soul. People of all backgrounds, shapes, sizes, and racial denominations can find something in melodies that touches them when regular old words just can’t. Alternative rock girl band The Aces are absolutely no different. The four-piece all-women ensemble are making hurricanes with their indie pop and the ’80s inspired feel-good bops that just keep coming.

Finding home base in Provo, Utah, The Aces are no new face, originally starting off as The Blue Aces in their 2008 creation before dropping to The Aces later on. The band was originally formed with her sister Alisa when lead singer and guitarist Cristal Ramirez was just 10. Imagine knowing exactly what the hell you wanted to do at 10 years old and making that come to life. Manifestation is a powerful tool, mis amigas. Including Cristal, the band is comprised of drummer and vocalist Alisa Ramirez, guitarist and vocalist Katie Henderson, and make-you-snatch-your-wig bassist and vocalist McKenna Petty. Let’s be honest, all of them can snatch a lace front at least 6 times in one show — trust me, I’ve seen them twice. They can do it without a doubt.

Their live energy is insane. It’s authentic, it’s engulfing.

It’s like you and your best friends are having a party and losing your goddamn minds for two and a half hours. I’ve been to many concerts for multiple artists, and never have they managed to leave me feeling quite so alive and unbelievably more passionate about my own hunger for music as The Aces have done. Everyone in the room was 100% devoted to the movement of love and joy that their shows give you.

The power these women have showcased is phenomenal — from self-releasing their undoubtedly iconic ’80s new wave track Stuck in May 2016, signing to Red Bull Records in October of the same year, following with the 2018 release of the acclaimed When My Heart Felt Volcanic album, to opening up for pop-rock kings 5 Seconds Of Summer, and now on their own headlining tour that’s already halfway completed and is without a doubt one of the most high-energy, encapsulating shows I’ve had the pleasure of dropping $65 and waiting almost 10 hours in chill and drizzle to attend (no, their ticket prices aren’t outrageous or anything, I’m just a colossal dumbass).

Every song on the award-worthy album is a blast. You cannot skip a single track. It’s been streamed religiously on my Spotify since I found them, and I haven’t been able to not play every track. Beginning to end, the album slaps and my personal favorites that I ended up almost snatching a braid from my scalp when I heard live — Bad Love and Strong Enough. Each track tells a story that has a different sound, but somehow has cohesion and — possibly unintentional — uniformity that follows throughout the entire thing that every artist can’t accomplish. Start to finish, it all tells a story of love gone toxic, heartbreak, and the pick up to realize you deserve more.

The lyrical finesse that When My Heart Felt Volcanic possesses is mind-boggling to me as a lyricist myself. It’s eloquent, without being cliché. The plays on words and topics and how it flows with the melodies of every song make it impossibly difficult to dislike this album, and just this band’s writing capabilities, honest to god. Many artists can write beautifully and it is so well-received, but cannot execute in melodic composition or live performance. Especially in live renditions. The Aces are not those artists. Cristal’s tone — even when on vocal rest — manage to outdo her studio counterparts and it honestly baffles me still, 5 days after hearing it. It’s peak mogulity, truly.

After meeting the lovely girlies pre-show, and from my own personal experience with each and every one of them, these are women who deserve more than what they get. Their grounded, unapologetically real personalities, and what we in stan culture have deemed “crackheaded nature,” shine in everything they do and it’s what makes them so beloved by fellow Ace Faces/Moguls. If you ask Siri who reigns superior, she’s going to say The Aces because she has Taste™. The Aces are worthy of more praise than they receive. Each and every member of the band brings something undisputedly them to the table and on top of their longtime friendship and natural bond, their understanding of each other as showcased at their live shows, are what help them run as a well-structured utopia of taste.

If you’re looking for new music, give The Aces a shot. I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Unless you’re tasteless. And not on the route to top tier mogulity. Then you’re on your own and absolutely disappointing, honey.

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Find The Aces on social media:
Twitter: @theacesofficial
Instagram: @theaces
Youtube: the aces
Website: theacesofficial.com

Queen Payne