Went to check out two offshoots of the Marvin Tate D-Settlement at the Note. The opener, the urban rock/funk outfit the Punishment, was both a thrilling horror show and a disappointment. The disappointment was in the re-configuration of the band. Now that bonafide soul mama Tina Howell and goth queen Liz Murray aren't in the band, the Punishment has obviously lost a major human element in their show. But Liz herself told me that it was her idea to part company.
I was dissatisfied with that until I took in the new Punishment on their own terms. Stripped down, blunt, jagged, they may even be better as a quartet. Lead vocalist Adam Conway is still a mesmerizing showman--combustible, unpredictable, blunt, the man has no problem pushing a lyric with violent force. And while Conway and the rhythm section were torching the place, along comes George Blaise. Head shaking, eyes closed, blistering guitar runs flying off his fingers like glitter. Punishment standards like "The Enemy" and "South Texas Deathride" got a brutal working over, but the new "Sex Party" creeped the daylights out of me. Inspired by female drug addicts enticing men with sex on Wilson St. at 2 a.m., it's the kind of depravity I'd rather not know about. The Punishment, as is their style, didn't make it any more palatable. But as I said before, it's not their fault, they just telegraph what they see.
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After that I was good and ready for some GODDAMNED uplift, and Star Candy, celebrating the release of their EP Set it Off, didn't disappoint. With old-school soul diva Rene Ruffin ( also of the D-Settlement ) as a featured component, I was all set until I got a look at the band's promo kit. Turns out a chunk of Star Candy used to play with Fat Time, a local funk/soul outfit I saw two years ago. Proficient, passionate, and intense, I found Fat Time remarkably uninvolving. As I remember, the funkier and sweatier they got on stage, the drowsier I got in the audience ... BUT. Two weeks ago in my review of Ripley Caine's Lover I talked about alchemy ( the combination of science and magic ) , and damned if Star Candy didn't make the same heady mix.
Set it Off is a heated mix of funk/jazz/soul with perspiration clinging to the lip. It's a workout, but it ain't shit compared to Star Candy live ( we'll get to that ) . The opener, "People Living Everyday," is the cure for the malaise we've all become hotwired to accept. It's about appreciation and living the life you have, no complaints. On a song like "People Living" you expect preachiness, but Star Candy's approach is like urban gospel, sort of the Staples in church by way of the Family Stone on the boulevard. Ruffin gets to slow cook, Chaka style, on "Marinate," a bluesy slow jam wrapped in a cushy cluttered mix. By the time Star Candy gets frothy on "I'm Gonna be a Star," all that serious uplift turns giddy.
Live, though, is where Star Candy takes off. Marqueal Jordan ( vocals and sax ) and Scott Leff ( vocals and guitar ) , both from Fat Time, with Ruffin smack in the middle, seem to have found an electric cohesion. But like the Punishment and the D-Settlement, Star Candy's wallop is in the alchemic combination of the band working together. In this day and age, perfection is a rare commodity, but Star Candy hits it with ease.
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Went to see Pushin' Up Roses, Allen Conkle and Courtney Evan's nerdy punk saga of the difficulty of making/keeping/and growing in friendship. The tale of two polar opposites ( Billy, a sweetly nebbish gayboy who gives too much, and Rose, a punk-rock gay girl who won't give at all ) traverses through death, drugs, the loss of love, the fear of artistic compromise, the fear of intimacy and the use of a great many bananas.
But the parts that stick are the episodes and not the whole. The most satisfying/ wrenching scene in it has Billy falling in love ( depicted by a big thirsty kiss ) only to have that "love" dump him for a woman.
Later at his ex-boyfriend's wedding, the groom propositions Billy ( "Just because I'm married doesn't mean I don't want to be with you ..." ) and with that we can see how true friendship has been perverted into something as personable as an ATM card.
More telling is Samaiya Ewing, who gives Rose a glazed, furious exasperation, and Adam Cook, who makes Billy extremely adorable ( I want to feed him ice cream ) , rather than needy. The bonus is that a re-configured Three Dollar Bill turns up in various guises ( the wedding band bit is priceless ) and plays throughout the show. Better catch this quick, Pushin' Up Roses closes Nov. 8.
Pushin' Up Roses A dyke punk thrasher, about to reach fame and fortune, struggles with selling her soul to the devil in disguise. This original comic fable features live original music by queercore band Three Dollar Bill, thru Nov 8. Nomenil Thtr, Frankie J's, 4437 N Broadway, ( 773 ) 271-4598.
