 With
her black cat suit, spiky cropped do, red eye shadow, and
pointy high-heeled boots, Lauro immediately brought Sex
Pistols groupie Sue Catwoman to mind. Rebel girl all the
way, Lauro smashed a glass on the floor - albeit a bit timidly
- during a cover of GG Allin's "You Hate Me and I Hate
You". With Len Lauro on headless bass and newcomer
Stacey Rawlings behind the drums, you would have been hard-pressed
to notice anything missing from the mix, but full sounding
as it was, Problem were sans guitar. Len's years of classical,
rock and music theory allow him to churn out a steady bass
jam of catchy tunes rooted in punk's and new wave's catchy
past.Problem, whose songs are about being outsiders, undergrounders, and alienated instigators, relocated to the Bay Area in '96 from the Big Apple, where core members the Lauros started the band in '91. (When they enlightened me about the origins of their song lyrics, each explanation seemed to start with "We were sitting in a bar in Ney York, and …") As some unruly Mohawked drunks started faux fights and raucously slammed into one another, Caroline's screams talked the talk and she walked the walk, working the room with thespian ease, starting into faces and she strutted by, singing, Mid set, she popped up on the pool table and to roll around, kick her legs, and let her leotard slip off a should to bare a breast. The only problem with Problem's set was that it was way too long - otherwise, they're doing a damn good job of brining on the new new wave. S.F. Bay Guardian review from a show at the Tempest in S.F. |
|
The
East Bay Express |
good
old days. The lead singer, Caroline Lorrie, looked a bit
like Judy Garland on a good day, except for the fact that
I can't recall Ms. Garland ever performing in a PVC minidress.
I soon found that the band has a fondness for props: at
one point, Lorrie grabbed my husband's motorcycle helmet
and danced around, wearing it on her head. During the
song "Jack the Ripper", she cloaked herself
in a black scarf and wielded a butcher knife, the better
to make her point. Her snarly classic punk-rock voice
sounded great on GG Allin's tender ditty "You Hate
Me and I Hate You". And she also did a fine rendition
of Wayne County's "Everyone's an Asshole but Me."
During "Underground Girl", the bass player joined
in on harmonies and I was reminded of X. Pogoing about
for the 45-min set Lorrie was a fine example of punk-rock
showmanship.