July 2016
What the Jenny Clinkscale
band brought to the local scene was entertainment value.... you put
down your hard earned moolah and in return you witnessed a rock and
roll testimonial unlike any seen before or since. Jen Sincero, the
self anointed “rock goddess” had cut her teeth in NYC with Crotch
(Sara Rotman and Mike Mellett) Crotch dropped one epic tongue in
cheek video for their single, “Power Tool of Love” in 1994, then
dropped from sight. The video includes a cameo by Adam Ant, Jen's
mother and a hair bikini. Dear old mom gets catcalled by construction
workers and Jen has no recourse but to take matters in hand. “and
then something happened, I felt the biggest burning hunk of man
muscle I ever felt in my life”
Naturally..... Jenny
Clinkscale revolved around Jen Sincero and Amy Clinkscale,
accompanied by a revolving cast of local musicians (at least 15
different musicians according to Jen & Amy) this included:
Leonard Apodaca, Dead Leonard, owner of The Atomic Cantina and
co-founder of Socyermom Records. Elijah Mink, a drummer from Seattle
who responded to Jen's best selling book: “Don't Sleep With Your
Drummer” by stating, “I don't know what I did to her” Jenny
Clinkscale's sole album “Mind if We Join You?” is a skillful mix
of mid-90s alternative rock influenced heavily by Liz Phair and P.J.
Harvey (obviously, seeing how Jen's other band from this period, 60
Foot Queenie derived its name from Polly Jean's song “50 Ft.
Queenie” 60 Foot Queenie, formed in Los Angeles is not to be
confused with 50 Foot Queenie, a P.J. Harvey tribute band) 60 Foot
Queenie wasn't much of a departure from Jenny Clinkscale. Not long
after that, Jen ditched the rock & roll lifestyle, declaring
herself a failed rock star goddess.
You almost
wouldn't expect Lindy Vision to hail from Albuquerque. Visually they
present a stunning and exotic image not normally associated with
'Burque or New Mexico for that matter. The three Cuylear sisters,
Dorothy (Dee-Dee) vocalist, songwriter, keyboards. Natasha (Na)-
guitar,vocals and Carla - drums are strikingly beautiful in a head
turning, jaw dropping sort-a-way. Equal parts K-pop divas and new
wave rave queens. Raised in Southern New Mexico now making their
homes in Albuquerque. Their mixed heritage (Native/African American)
sets them apart.... but it's the music that seals the deal. Disco
beats for millennial shoegazers. A soundtrack for the debauched rave
set. Stripped down intelligent synth pop loaded with sex appeal and
danceable rhythms.
“I've got the white
noise it drives me insane” Lindy Vision's
name derives from a passage in Malcolm X's autobiography where he
(along with co-author Alex Haley) describes the “Lindy Hop” dance
culture (a predecessor of the modern dance club scene) “The
spotlight would be turning pink, yellow, green and blue, picking up
couples lindy-hopping as if they had gone mad”
In this sense, using modern vernacular, Lindy can be defined as
"turnt up " Positive/Negative... as the
party rages on, we feed off the contradictory nature of a world
divided into either fun or serious things... pink + black. Innocence
pitted against the relentless need for a stimuli, be it sex, drugs,
music. All the while, facing a dilemma: that eventually those turnt
up must turnt down “You want the white horse
to come save you now”
Take Liz
Phair's cocksure sexual self awareness, give it a garage punk beat,
filter it through the experiences of a young Chicana growing up in
Denver, before being abruptly uprooted to Guadalajara, Jalisco,
Mx...... mold it into unruly three minute discourses on alienation,
displacement and the never ending war against misogyny (in this case
the machismo culture that infects Mexican society) and you have
Teresa Suarez, aka Teri Gender Bender, the clever, sensual and
mesmerizing musician behind Le Butcherettes. She's a unique musical
bi-product of clashing cultures, who rages against the machine with
rancor and honesty. Teresa sings in her native language... English,
though she's equally proficient in Spanish. Her unmistakably American
vocals, give away her extensive musical influences.
The Tapatio whirlwind
wields a guitar like a cleaver.... all down strokes and slashing
riffs (Teri asked her father to buy her a guitar at 10 years old
after she had dreams about playing the guitar) On stage she demands
your attention. Seeking to satisfy her need to feed your soul,
punishing her instruments.... smashing her keyboard, then tossing it
aside like an inattentive boyfriend. The uninitiated are taken aback.
The divide between her and the audience melts away, Teri stage dives
backwards into their midst, arms outstretched. She begs for
punishment and finds only admiration, love and an occasional call to
“show us your titties” Teri builds to a raging orgasmic climax.
The fans eat it up. It's a mental health balancing act not seen since
sullied Mexican pop diva Gloria Trevi was titillating the masses.
August 2016
The third installment in a
three part series showcasing the women involved in Albuquerque's
music scene is cued up and ready to spin. Until the late
1990s few women were involved in the local music scene and only a
handful managed to release any recordings. Prior to that it was
strictly a boy's club with a few rare exceptions. Beverlee Brown
joined future husband Sidro Garcia in The Sneakers shortly before
they relocated to Las Vegas, Nv. in 1964. The Feebeez ('Burque's
legendary all-girl 60s garage band) recorded legacy consists of one
scratchy self-released vinyl 45) Kid Sister w/ Victoria Woodworth are
a bit of mystery. Bandmine lists them as being from Albuquerque and
having been signed by MCA records. Yet, I haven't found much evidence
that they actually were from 'Burque. Kid Sister rose to become a
regional favorite based in Denver, Co. Could be they hooked up with
Victoria Woodworth (raised in Denver) after they relocated.
Who of course,
doesn't remember Femme Fatale, fronted by Lorraine Lewis (also lead
singer for Babe Ruthless) they found success on a national level that
few thought attainable for a local band. That success would prove to
be short lived and bittersweet. Lorraine remains one of the most
recognizable musicians to hail from the Duke City, becoming somewhat
of a cult figure with heshers hellbent on reliving the 1980s. While
we're on the subject. Twenty five years after the fact, Femme
Fatale's aborted second album for MCA has seen the light of day. "One
More For The Road" released this year on F n A Records. (compact
disc only, no plans for a vinyl release) Lorraine, Bobby, Rick, Bill
and Maz.... it's like they never left us. A time capsule from an era
of Albuquerque's rock history that often gets neglected or lampooned.
“One More For the Road” appears to have been released in limited
quantities, check online for availability.
Albuquerque is a quizzical
mix of open hostility and open armed bienvenidos.... meted out in
equal increments that can be both puzzling and maddening. Bad things
happen to good people here and bad things happen to bad people with
alarming regularity as well. The prevalence of Spanish spoken
throughout the city, is perhaps the biggest change that I've noticed.
The line separating the homogeneous white heights from the rest of
'Burque is almost blurred beyond recognition. What were once good
neighborhoods are now bad and what were once bad neighborhoods are
now gentrified.
Albuquerque as I once
predicted has become more like Los Angeles or Phoenix. Though to be
honest, the entire southwest has become more like Los Angeles or
Phoenix. The one thing that has remained constant in the Duke City is
the music scene. It continues to thrive with an upsurge of creative
and talented musicians heading up a growing list of bands and
projects that rival those of any other major metropolitan area that
comes to mind. No shit. Albuquerque music makes Albuquerque a better
place to live, it's proof positive that there's intelligent life
here.
Question: which of the
following genre tags best describes Wall of Voodoo.... new wave, post
punk, alternative rock, dark wave, cowpunk? It's a trick question,
they all apply, unequivocally. How many times did you try and play
Wall of Voodoo at a party only to be met by belligerent bellows of
“Take that punk shit off!”
Lead singer,
Stanard “Stan” Ridgway drawled with jaded
detachment.... a flowing river of abstract pronouncements, delivered
with an unmistakably American west coast accent that echoed western
movie heroes and any number of their nasalized sidekicks. “Cause
I can tell at a glance you're not from 'round these parts, Got a
green look about ya And that's a gringo for starts” Stan had
the necessary tools: a shitload of confidence combined with an
endless reservoir of arrogance.
Guitarist, Marc Moreland
specialized in big rich rolling tones, shamelessly lifted from
Morricone spaghetti western soundtracks and spiced up with some Dick
Dale inspired surf licks. Stan would introduce “Morricone Themes”
by announcing: “Here's a little film music for you” Marc
Moreland, one of the truly underrated guitarist from the 1980s. On
stage Marc and Chas T. Gray gave off an underlying sense of
hostility. Two So Cal bros ready to stomp your ass into a mud puddle
at any moment. “If it's the rough stuff ya want You can point yer
finger at me”
Gray's encyclopedic arsenal of keyboard riffs
gave Wall of Voodoo a “new wave” sound not unlike that of “Duty
Now for the Future” era Devo (Can't Make Love and pretty much the
entire “Call of the West” album)
September 2016
Dirt City Chronicles was
born of an idea that a radio station playing primarily local music
could be feasible. It wasn't, although the advent of online streaming
made that a mute point. Terrestrial radio, hampered by the FCC's
archaic adherence to rules and regulations (in place since the early
days of radio) simply can't compete with streaming apps such as
Pandora, Slacker, Spotify etc. All of which allow users to program
their own tailor made streams. After exploring possible online
broadcast apps such as Shoutcast (too expensive, complicated) I
determined that podcasting was the obvious choice.
Thus Dirt City Radio was born.... with
a slight hitch, a local band was already using that name. Radio
became Chronicles and there you have it.
All I lacked at that point was a file
host. After some research, I settled on Pod Bean, a competent app
that provided cool embedded players, though overall the process of
posting episodes was rather tedious. There was one major drawback to
Pod Bean, initially you pay $29.99, after that Pod Bean essentially
holds your audio files for ransom. Forcing you to renew at their
escalating rates or your links go dead. Dirt City Chronicles is a not
for profit undertaking, leaving me to explore whatever free options
the internet had to offer. YouTube was the obvious choice. It's free,
you can upload files of any size (once you register your mobile
number) and as long as you don't run afoul of YouTube's copyright
restrictions, the sky really is the limit. Another option for those
working on the cheap is Archive.org. Unlimited uploads, no file size
restrictions and little if any copyright hassles. The internet is
forever and these links will never go dead.
