Typically when a band you love announces they’re returning to the fold via a comeback or through a high profile reunion, all sorts of thoughts start racing through our minds. Will they still sound the same? Are they going to play shows? Or are we going to hear new music are all burning questions we want answered. Many of us remember the intense, pure and unmitigated energy of tracks like Surfin’ On a Wave of Love, Higher than High, Don’t Blame Me and Joe Cool by the late 80s and early 90s trailblazing Melbourne garage-pop/femme rock band Girl Monstar. When I heard they were returning to their roots with a new album (their first new album since 1992), I was thrilled by the possibilities that lay ahead with such a decision. More recently I also learned their comeback was fuelled by a desire to not only reconnect with each other but to reignite a creative passion that has always burned deep inside.
Girl Monstar originally split up after playing their last gig at Big Day Out in 1993. They had played more than 200 blistering shows across Australian venues as a formidable live act since 1988 and shared stages with legendary acts such as Iggy Pop, the Ramones, Sonic Youth, the Hard-ons, GOD, the Hoodoo Gurus, The Divinyls, Poison and Skid Row. When Girl Monstar decided to call it a day they simply branched out on their own in completely different directions. Notably singer/guitarist Sherry Rich formed her own band the pioneering alt-country outfit Sherry Rich & The Grievous Angels. She later worked as songwriter in Nashville for ten years before returning back home as a musician. Lead Guitarist Anne McCue following her exit from Girl Monstar relocated to Los Angeles and then Nashville, forging a stellar career as a singer songwriter and producer, merging her love for country and blues with rock and pop. In recent years she has toured with Heart and Lucinda Williams. Interestingly drummer Sue Shaw (Sue World) might be the only one who remained a steady force within Melbourne’s garage scene. She continued to play with bands like the Exotics, Plastic Section and the Wraylettes over the past three decades since their split.
While Girl Monstar never truly fell into obscurity or out of rotation for adoring fans, their unexpected comeback and self determination to get back together has created a whole new buzz around their new ten-track rock album GRRRR!! Joining Rich, McCue and Shaw for Girl Monstar version 2.0 once again is bass player Janene Abbott, who was coaxed out of the wilds of the Northern Territory. With tracks like the protest anthem Hate Train and the rousing ode of Blue Cat With Green Eyes leading the charge, Girl Monstar find themselves poised to make you want to rock out with them all over again.
In our recent interview (here below) I was thrilled to have both Sherry and Anne walk us through their new record, their decision to make a comeback and what drives them as musicians. Here is some of what we talked about.
First of all, please tell me about your decision to make a comeback. It’s great that Girl Monstar are back, but how did it happen?
Anne: I’ll let Sherry tell that story as it’s all her doing! Ha ha!
Sherry: The reunion happened very easily and organically. In 2014 I returned to study, and a Philosophy assessment required me to write a manifesto. This turned into the song ‘Blue Cats with Green Eyes.’ It didn’t fit any of my other music projects, it felt like a Girl Monstar song. I tracked it with Sue on drums in Melbourne then sent the files to Anne in Nashville to finish. It came out so well, we decided to make an ep or an album. It took a bit of searching to find Janene our bassplayer, who had disappeared into the wilds of the Northern Territory, but eventually Sue found her.
You started out back in 1988 in your early 20s, and obviously now you are older and wiser. Do you feel like you’ve found a new burst of energy or is it a continuation of the drive you’ve always had?
Sherry: I’m not the kind of person who does much looking back and to be honest a Girl Monstar reformation was never on my mind. I still have the creative drive of a 20 year old and I’m very much project focused. It felt like the right time to write a new batch of songs that were more political and heavier. All of us have more to say as women, mothers, activists and musicians with another 30 years of living.
Anne: Personally, speaking, I think it’s healthy to have a certain amount of rage and energy simmering underneath a calm exterior and rock music has traditionally been an outlet for it. Now seems like the perfect time for rock to make a statement again. It’s really been great fun to play this style of guitar again. Hopefully the drive to play will never go away. As Gough W. said, ‘Maintain your rage.’
Do you see this a reboot for the band? Has the dynamic changed or does it feel just like the old days?
Sherry: Some things have changed and some have not. We are still passionate about the music and making it together. First, we have to get Anne over to Australia to play some gigs! Then we may do some more recording of the new songs we were playing live when we broke up in 1993.
Anne: I think it would be fun for the band to keep making records. Why not? Dynamics have changed, yes! Because we have changed, all of us. We are women of experience now whereas in the early days our adult lives were just beginning. Speaking for myself, I have several decades of experience now as a musician and although humans and their behaviour can still be somewhat of a mystery to me at times I am better equipped to process it. Not taking things personally is key. The first manifestation of Girl Monstar was very intense. We played a lot of shows, toured in a van – and did all the stuff you do when you are twenty years old. Musically, these are the people I played the most gigs with in my life – Sue is the drummer I have played with the most so it feels very natural.
Are you able to share a short story with us about what first attracted you to rock in particular? Your career(s) nowadays in alt-country seems a world away from the heady days of 90s rock.
Anne: I hate to be clichéd but for me it started with The Beatles when I was about 3 years old. My family just loved The Beatles and I wanted to play in a band like that. Rock is more of an open door than other forms of music. You can learn to play in public if your on the punk side of things. The era in which I started playing was actually anti-dexterity and technical skill. For example, The Clash would scream over the place where there might otherwise be a guitar solo. It was more welcoming for all kinds of kids e.g. The Ramones. It was about having fun as opposed to the classical piano lessons I had as a kid. In fact, it was those piano lessons that made me want to play guitar, to break free.
Sherry: As a teen, I was into punk, alternative and Indie music. One of my fave bands was the Angels and my brother and I used to go see them and other Australian rock bands…Midnight Oil, The Church, AC/DC in pubs and clubs in Queensland. I vividly recall being in a dentist’s waiting room, hearing ‘Lets Go’ by The Cars and thinking “I’m going to start and all girl rock band”.
Because I grew up with a mother who was a country folk singer I was eventually influenced by and drawn in by those records too. I think there is a lovely blend of genres in country and rock and they are not too far removed from each other, especially when you are a singer songwriter. In my career I’ve been in many bands and I don’t limit myself to a particular genre. Music follows my life, so when I was raising kids I was writing music for them [in The Mudcakes where coincidentally Sue is also the drummer] Art follows life.
If we can please detour for a moment, is there an interesting story in your career that was a defining moment? A moment that you knew that your career would never be the same?
Sherry: Signing a recording and publishing deal with BMG in the late 90s enabled me to move to Nashville to pursue the life of a solo singer/songwriter and work in the music industry in the US. It opened up a whole new world of experiences and people. It was really great for my craft as a songwriter to work with so many others and play solo and band shows all around the US and Europe.
Recording an album in Wilco’s loft studio in Chicago and working closely with members of Wilco and Jay Bennett in particular was a thrilling time.
Back on topic, with residencies in both Australia and in Nashville, what was the songwriting process like for the new album, and how much time did you all spend on it? And how has it changed, over time?
Anne: When Girl Monstar started I was the only one who hadn’t been in a gigging band before, so I was the least experienced. And although I had tried writing music I was listening to more experimental music like Einsturzende Neubauten. So having to write pop songs with a tight structure and hooks was a craft I had to develop. Sherry was already really good at that. So I was catching up, so to speak. We never wrote songs together back then so it was great to do that for this record. We just sent ideas back and forth and it was a pretty smooth process.
Sherry: I always thought it was a shame that Anne and I didn’t write more together in the original days of Girl Monstar. Anne and I were the main songwriters but we would bring songs to the rehearsal room and always sing them ourselves with not much collaboration. She is an awesome songwriter and I felt there was unfinished business there…a missed opportunity. Writing for this album, we sent lyrics and phone demo recordings back and forth between Nashville and Melbourne, and came up with some really magical collaborative moments. ‘Love Song for a Street Kid’ is a good example… I was originally going to sing the lead vocal but it suited Anne’s voice much better. We really fine-tuned those lyrics and the music together. Janene, Sue and I recorded the basic tracks in my house, often we’d call up Anne in Nashville and play her the takes. The whole thing was very collaborative and fun. All four of us contributed to ‘Mohawk Wig’ based on a real-life experience Sue had at a Sex Pistols gig in 2025.
The album’s title GRRRR! is just so matter a fact. Please tell me something surprising about it?
Sherry: It’s so hard coming up with a good album title! We threw around and threw out a lot of possibilities. Anne came up with GRRRR!! It’s simple and no explanation needed. We feel like women at the height of our power in many ways. Unfortunately, and I know many women experience this, society on the whole may think we are ‘aging out’ as creative beings. Not true! So many things that make us go GRRRR!! We knew it was the title of a Rolling Stones compilation but that didn’t matter. We just put more Rs and more exclamation marks! Lol! We also like the fun aspect to GRRRR!! And the ‘garage rock’ inspired artwork.
Anne: With the new world order I found myself saying Grrrr!! all the time, every day, all day. It’s all so infuriating and feels like the world is upside down.We were trying to come up with a title and after a while I said, why not just ‘Grrrr!!’ It’s how we all feel!
You have written some powerfully evocative lyrics for the new album. Which are your favourite songs and why?
Anne: I think Hate Train is pretty killer. The lyrics do not hold back and all the guitar parts fell together so easily. Sherry’s vocal performance on Mohawk Wig and the lyrics – that one gives me a good (and much needed) chuckle. Blue Cats With Green Eyes – this one is really quirky – I’m pleased with how the crazy guitar parts ended up working. You never know what they really sound like as you’re making them up… Street Kid and Slippin’ Through The Cracks are very moving.
Sherry: My favourite songs change all the time. ‘Love Song for a Street Kid’ is very personal and also marks a true collab between Anne and I. For both those reasons when I hear the first verse it brings up a lot of emotion in a bittersweet way. I used this album as an outlet for my anger on a whole lot of issues (both) personal and political. Raging against the billionaire bros [Hate Train] and how women still don’t feel safe in live gig environments [Mohawk Wig] and my own son being let down by the system [Slipping Through the Cracks] I recently saw the young activist Greta Thunberg interviewed and asked ‘Why are you so angry?’ she replied ‘I think there’s something wrong if people aren’t angry about what is going on in the world!’ I totally agree!
Listening to the new singles, Blue Cats with Green Eyes and Hate Train, it seems like some of the material comes from a personal place. Is that the case?
Anne: Always.
Sherry: I’d describe myself as a singer/songwriter and all of my songs are personal. I also enjoyed collaborating with Anne and the other girls on their own stories.
Finally, do you have a message you’d like to share with fans, both old and new?
Anne: Maintain your rage. Don’t let the bastards get you down. Keep moving. Take some guitar lessons or make sure your kids do. You won’t regret it! If you are in your first band and are having some success, try to keep the band together. You don’t often get second chances. Play in a band for fun, there’s no better fun.
Sherry: To fans who were there in the 80s and 90s and those who are new to our music…thank you for listening! We’re very excited to be back and hope you enjoy the new music and coming along for the ride. Hope to see you at a gig!
Rearview Mirror 
Congrats on the great interview. Girl Monstar are all new to me. Based on my initial impression, “Grrrr!!” sounds great. Thanks for the intro!
These gals are amazing. Thanks 👍 Have reposted. 😍