“I’m looking for bands who want to be stars,” he says when I reach him by phone. “That grunge thing where people think it’s not cool to want to be successful? I think that’s uncool. Bands should look good on stage, they should be inspiring and motivating. That adds up to a certain star quality, and the Charms have that. They also have a consistency in everything they do; they put in an emotional investment, and I like that. The new album is a step forward, it’s more diverse, but it didn’t even have to be: I love the Ramones, so I don’t think bands have to progress. The Charms could have made 10 more albums that sounded just like Pussycat [their 2005 album on Red Car] and I still would have been happy.”
I’ll disagree with Little Steven on this one, though: Strange Magic is a considerable upgrade from the fast, fun rock of Pussycat, and it marks a big step forward for the band. With Diamond’s help they’ve branched out: the rockers rock harder (the roaring opener, “American Way” is pure MC5), they incorporate Bowie glam and deploy acoustic guitars artfully, and their love for bubblegum and Brill Building pop is more fully realized. Vee still does her trademark siren wails when called for, but she sings more emotively as well. In addition to polishing their sound, Diamond showed them some trade secrets, including the “Jack White tape recorder” that was used on the White Stripes’ albums. Vee: “It’s an old reel-to-reel, and anyone who sings into it sounds like Jack White.” She resisted, but Wizda did play one solo through it.
Any sadder undercurrents in the songs can be traced to their being written after the Charms’ 2005 national tour, which was a make-and- break experience. Their bass player jumped ship a few hours before one show. Two other members — including Wizda’s sister-in-law, organist Kat Kina — were fired after the tour ended. (Pressed for details, Vee offers only, “Anything that you can think of probably happened.”) Vee and Wizda were the sole remaining members after the tour (keyboardist Ethan Jon Kriezer and bassist Mark Nigro have since joined), and their tough luck with band mates has continued: just four weeks ago, Prince Frederick, the Charms’ fifth drummer, ran off to marry a girl he’d met on tour. He hasn’t been heard from since. As a result, the band aren’t set to play in town again until April 12, when they open for Glen Matlock at T.T. the Bear’s Place.
It’s moments like these that make Vee and Wizda more determined to carry on. And despite their growing national profile, they still identify themselves as a Boston band. “We definitely feel like one,” Wizda says. “Especially when we’re playing Irving Plaza and people start yelling, ‘Boston sucks!’ ”
THE CHARMS + GLEN MATLOCK & THE PHILISTINES | T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge | April 12 | 617.492.BEAR
