I remember the first time I saw Dale Bozzio on MTV. Way back in the day. The “Words” video. The one where she’s wearing black stiletto ankle boots, black pantyhose, a black micro-mini made out of two plastic squares, each no bigger than an album cover, connected across her exposed hips by just a couple of thin silver chains, and two partially see-through soup cups on her breasts, and her hair is teased to the sky and mostly platinum but kissed on one side by purple and blue. I was all, “Wow! Should I be turned on or freaked out?” My moms was like, “Change the channel! Change the channel!” And I’m pretty sure that even today neither of us knows what to make of Bozzio and her sistren in New Wave/melodic-punk frontwoman-ing. Some of the rougher ones are moderately attractive but act like such coarse dudes onstage that no matter how shapely they are they’re hard to bear. Some of the New Wave-ier lasses are just … out there: too much neon eye-shadow for me. But I guess some people, some dudes, have fewer superficial hang-ups than I do, which might partly explain this weekend’s chick-filled New Wave and melodic-punk bill at Dreamworld Music Complex in Gnarlington (3102 W. Division St., 817-226-ROCK). More than a couple of scheduled bands are fronted by young women. And in some of the groups, young ladies aren’t just pretty faces but contributors of hot lixxx and bass lines. (That’s right. I said, “Hot lixxx,” the future name of my forthcoming hair-metal band. Just kidding! But not really.)
One of the Dreamworld bands is basically a male solo project to which various young women often contribute lead vocals and is recommended for not only being occasionally fronted by attractive chicas but also for having a singular sound. Gods Joke’s songs, all written by Arlingtonian Dennis Berry, alternate between sturdy New Wave and mod-rock: liquidy, synth’d e-guitar progressions + melodic explosions = decent-cy. Along with Gods Joke, the bill tonight (Friday) at Dreamworld includes Lapse of Sanity, Deep South Union, old-school R&B’ers AwkQuarius (yep, that AwkQuarius), and Dallas’ Screaming Red, a Dallas hardcore quartet of one dude and three young women fronted by a charismatic lady.
Radio-ready mod-rockers Silver Loves Mercury and the grandiose Deaf Angel, two other metallic acts fronted by young women, play tomorrow (Saturday) at Dreamworld, with Element 80, Premenishen, Tyrade, and Betrayal by Truth.
33
