Knitters |
When Knitters guitarists John Doe and Dave Alvin took the Paradise stage a week ago Thursday, Doe promised the house an evening of sad, “miserable” songs. They played two, “A Good Imitation of the Blues” and “Silver Wings.” Then all hell broke loose. Singer Exene Cervenka, stand-up bassist Jonny Ray Bartel, and stand-up drummer D.J. Bonebrake joined them — all five across the front of the stage — and the misery was put to rest with the new “Something To Brag About.” The Knitters continued in that spirit for the remaining 75 minutes. Late in the set, Doe ’fessed up. What this band really did, he said, was play “party songs.”
With X, Doe and Cervenka were always the best tag-team male-female vocal duo in punk rock. And when they shift gears every so often to front this country-punkabilly offshoot, they become a modern-day Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. The harmonies, the swapped vocals, the knowing looks, the little jabs. On the set closer, “Try Anymore (Why Don’t We Even),” the divorced couple sang about a staid seven-year marriage. Doe wailed, “We don’t try anymore!”; Cervenka followed with “No time for crazy love, now it’s gone/We sit all night with the TV on,” leaving plenty of room for smiles, sly and wide.
These days, the Knitters’ sound is not far from X’s, especially with Alvin, the ever-dapper ex-Blaster, adding electric zing and sizzle. Indeed, the Paradise set included X songs (“New World,” “Burning House of Love,” “In This House That I Call Home”), a few standards (“Rank Strangers,” “Give Me Flowers While I’m Living,” “Hand Me Down My Walkin’ Cane”), and a cowpunk version of “Born To Be Wild.” Alvin even began “Poor Little Critter on the Road” with the opening lick from “Ziggy Stardust.” As for the Knitters’ future — they’ve made just two albums in more than two decades — Doe said backstage that they plan to record near the end of the year.
