Tijuana's Dani Shivers has a penchant for crafting music on her Casio keyboard collection, and now that music has finally been unleashed on analog goodness. Yes, her debut full-length JINX is being sold in cassette form for a limted time through Tijuana cassette label PrimaCrush.com. I couldn't help but get nostalgic for when I used to buy cassettes from Wherehouse. There's nothing like anticipating opening a plastic-wrapped cassette -- or CD or vinyl, for that matter. Busting the hardy plastic open from my JINX cassette was quite a task, but when I opened it there it was -- a wonderful Crayola-green cassette with a sheet of lyrics and a numerical code to digitally download the album.
JINX is a mixture of spooky pop and melodic vocals with pitch-bending '80s synth sounds. Dani takes you by the hand on a gothic exploration of witch hunting, visiting graves, bad frienships and vampire boyfriends. The teen-angst attitude in her songwriting is endearingly appealing. I couldn't help but repeat lines like, "It's not my fault they don't want you anymore" or "Prepare and kill that b----. Hold the knife or I want to take your eyes out. I want to sleep forever with you." Come on, who doesn't have those immature sentiments even as a grown adult?
The DIY attitude of Dani Shivers from her first two EPs gets expanded on JINX by enlisting Artax and the Swamp on production and Moisés Horta (Los Macuanos) mastering the record to bolster her signature Casio compositions.
Artax and the Swamp is a longtime musical companion of Dani Shivers -- both are in the band Ibi Ego. He says, “Dani at her core is an amazing songwriter and this is sort of a collaboration between my production style and her songwriting and overall vision.” JINX makes you feel like 17-year-old Veronica Sawyer from Heathers or, if you're a dude, you'd be the Christian Slater character. I guess you can say it takes you to a dark place without the guilt, because in JINX, Dani Shivers breaks the spell and saves her cat -- a sort of happy ending.
To purchase JINX click here. The Prima Crush label is also offering a 2x1 deal cassette package: Dani Shivers' JINX and Late Nite Howl EP. Check out JINX's release party video.
Dita Quiñones is a multimedia journalist born in Tijuana with a passion for Latin alternative and hip-hop music news. In addition to SoundDiego, she contributes to Latina, FOX News Latino, Poder, VidaVibrante, and HipHopDx. She is also the founder of the infamous music and politrix blog GN$F! Follow Dita on Twitter.
