Damone.  The Organ Beats.  Swivel.  Do you know these bands?  If not, you need to.  And you should therefore keep reading. 

Noelle LeBlanc is a musician from Boston (well really, Waltham, Mass., just outside of Boston).  She began her rock n roll career as a teenage guitarist and vocalist in a band initially named for her – Noelle.  After recording an album under that name, the band then changed its name to Damone and released essentially the same record on RCA in 2003, titled From the Attic. It’s a great record.  After being dropped by RCA, they were snapped up by Def-Jam.  The 2006 follow-up, Out Here All Night, was even better than the debut.  I would say it was spectacular.

Damone made a third record, which was good, but maybe not great, 2008’s Roll the Dice.  I don’t really know what happened after that, but I was one damn big fan of Noelle LeBlanc by that point.  A total rock n roll girl.  I think it’s the fact that she doesn’t just sing, but she plays guitar that really makes me love her.  Joan Jett comes to mind.  Damone named itself based upon the character from the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which is kind of cool, I think. 

Damone did reunite for two shows in Boston in 2019, and a new song was released in conjunction with that.  It’s a pretty song called “Moon and Stars,” but it is wildly different from prior Damone releases.  I have heard nothing more since, so I assumed it was a one-off reunion.  However, I just listened to a 2020 interview with Noelle on something called Scrimmy’s Shitty Podcast and in it she indicated that Damone planned to re-emerge with new songs and a new life as soon as the pandemic waned.  I am anxiously waiting and hoping that the delay did not undermine those plans.

Following the Damone years, Noelle began playing in a band called The Organ Beats.  This band has made a few records beginning with Sleep When We Are Dead from 2009.  A single called “Mishmash” came out in 2011, and then in 2012 their best effort - Goldenheart - was released.  That one is a rocker and is definitely their pinnacle, so far at least.  Another single, “Only Human,” came out in 2016, but based on the podcast interview, that will likely be all from The Organ Beats.  I don’t know that The Organ Beats ever strayed far from Boston.  If they did, I didn’t hear about it.  Damone of course, on a major label, toured extensively.  Unfortunately, I did not discover Damone until well into their run, and I never had an opportunity to see them live.

Finally, Noelle also fronts a heavy new band calling itself Swivel.  Swivel also features guitar player Carissa Johnson, who has some excellent solo output and a few records under the name Carissa Johnson and the Cure-alls.  Swivel has just released a self-titled EP containing six hard-rocking songs.  This new release is what prompted me to write about Noelle now. The release is outstanding and currently playing on repeat for me.  I believe Swivel is kind of a side project.  I would guess they will do more, but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting around.  For now, just crank those six songs and enjoy.

This is my primer on all things Noelle LeBlanc.  A true rock n roll girl with three outstanding projects, each with its own merits, but all three with her beautiful voice and some solid guitars.

JCE, or John to his friends, was born in 1963 in the Nation’s Capital.  He grew up in the VA suburbs of D.C.  He has a wife of 32 years, and a grown daughter.  He leads a bit of a double life, working by day as the chief administrative officer of a VA county, and spending as many nights as possible listening to live rock n roll with his wife at any club that has a decent band within 100 miles or so of their house.  

Oh, and he has an ever-growing collection of about 150 vintage skateboards.