3 Reasons You Should See War Bunnies Live

On a typically frigid January evening in New York City, New Orleans-based rock trio War Bunnies were ready to heat things up at Bowery Electric, headlining a three band bill.

Consisting of Sabrina Stone (vocals, bass), Aaron Younce (guitar), and Ana De Ferreira (drums), the trio have roots in NYC, the Bay Area, and Brazil, so they each bring different musical influences to the table. Those influences all came together on their debut EP, What You Wanted, which was released this past spring.

At Bowery Electric, War Bunnies kicked off their set with the title track of the EP, and for me it was love at first note.

My appreciation only grew as their set continued, and I heard everything they’re capable of, and they are capable of a lot.

A band you should definitely be on the lookout for, here are three reasons you should see War Bunnies live.

Sabrina has a voice that can tell a thousand stories 

When it comes to limitations, you’d be hard pressed to find any with Sabrina Stone’s voice.

She proves can belt it out with the best of them on the blues influenced “Wash Over Me,” and pop-rock song “Daisy.”

Equally comfortable toning things down, her voice has a sultry vibe on songs like “GPS,” and “Keep It Together.”

She can also employ a wonderful growl in her vocals – a la Melissa Etheridge / Bonnie Tyler / Gin Wigmore – which she employs on the EP’s title track, and the song “Ready for a Fight.”

While performing the latter at Bowery Electric she took the repeated lyric of “I am small, but I am loud / I’m not one, I am the crowd” and turned it into an awesome build before the explosion of the song’s finale, and the crowd absolutely loved it.

Sabrina has stories to tell, and being that she always knows the right vocals for the task of telling each story, you’ll want to listen to every one of them.

Aaron Younce is a killer guitar player 

As soon as War Bunnies launched into “What You Wanted” my ears were immediately drawn to the blues influenced guitar work of Aaron Younce. Not only was he layin’ it down, midway through the song he had a killer solo.

All I could think was – this dude is crushin’ it!

I wanted more solos, and Aaron did not disappoint.

I later learned he also plays bass in the Southern soul-rock band Them Ol’ Ghosts, so his blues influence is definitely an honest one, and it provides a really nice backbone – even if it always isn’t always as immediately evident as it is on “What You Wanted” – for many of War Bunnies’ songs.

The band being able to embrace that musical backbone – whether evident, or more underlying – is also aided by their drummer, Ana, who plays in a litany of other bands, and clearly eschews the concept of genre limitations.

They’re genuinely a good time 

I’ve got a theory … it could be bunnies!

OK, I’ll admit I opened this part of the review that way just because I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to connect that particular Buffy reference quite as perfectly with a band name.

I do, however, actually have a theory, and it’s that when an audience can tell a band is having a good time on stage, that good time becomes infectious, and spreads throughout the audience.

All smiles on stage, it’s easy to see Sabrina Stone is enjoying the moment, and being that the band kicks ass, it’s very easy to enjoy the moment with her.

After War Bunnies’ finale the crowd chanted “one more song!” Hilariously, the band looked at each other, and having only been around for a year, replied, “We don’t have any more songs!”

They are, however, currently writing more music, which is all the more reason to check them out when they’re in your town.

For more War Bunnies, check out warbunniesband.com.