Hip Teasers
Y'all want this neo-kitsch, dissolute dance-rock party started quickly...right?
You should, because the next time you get laid it'll probably be because of Morningwood. Equally laden with sweat and honey, their oversexed, pop-tinted grrrl rock is also catchy, and thus they stick out like the tattoo-less.
Fronted lustfully by local cupcake Chantal Claret, the fast foursome (Pedro Yanowitz on bass, Japa Keenon on drums, Richard Steel on guitar) fix a sound self-described as "a monster truck having sex with a Bond-girl." With statements like that Claret knows how to generate some buzz, but she remains as modest as...well, as a 23 year old who just last year was pushing demos outside of shows.
"I don't feel it's hype, really. I consider it recognition," she entreats from somewhere between Phoenix and Albuquerque, fresh into the band's opening stint for The Sounds. "We've worked really hard to get where we are, which is in a van, touring. I still consider myself the underdog, and probably always will."
Morningwood's self-titled debut album is a joy: with plasmatic guitar roars and throbbing bass lines, the backing band puts the proverbial balls to the wall before they're pinched into scorching submission by their front woman's metaphorical stilettos.
"Our music doesn't really cater to any certain demographic. Maybe the hipsters see through us," she quips. "I think it's because we don't make them cry after they masturbate."
Indeed, Morningwood's sound is shamelessly pop. Claret mixes the punk effrontery of Courtney Love ("Body," "Televisor") with a more fashionable alacrity best noted on their single "Nth Degree." Otherwise, it's likely Claret's lascivious lyrics will guide her away from the radio and into the club quicker than a comet.
"I'm a very lusty person, so that generally seems to come out in our music. I have other moods, of course, but this record just happens to be of that nature."
Claret is the youngest and least experienced member of the group. She's also the attraction: doing her best to ruffle hipster stiffness with live strip teases, ethereal coos and velar shrieks, all of which regularly inspire audience nudity, significant bumping and/or grinding and onstage promiscuity a la 2 Live Crew. In fact, the band's live performance is so fiery, they were signed to Capitol Records before recording a song.
"It was just one of those romantic stories," Claret reflects. "Music should be based on sincere, general reaction. And if people blow it out of proportion, we'll just have to create something new for them to talk about."