I’d love to report that Exene Cervenka’s headlining gig with her other band, the Original Sinners, a week ago Thursday at T.T. the Bear’s Place was a revelation — that she was in classic punk form, and that the set was an uplifting rush from start to finish. I’d even be happy enough to write that she’s turned a major artistic corner and moved on to, I dunno, African soukous music or gone on a fascinating trip-hop excursion. But no, Cervenka has stuck to the same primal, revved-up, rockabilly punk that was an X staple 25 years ago, when they first blasted out of LA like something nobody’d ever seen before. She’s even found a guitarist — a guy named Jason Edge, for godsakes — who plays the same silver glittertop Gretch that’s been Billy Zoom’s calling card since day one, though Edge also had a very unpunk doubleneck Gibson he pulled out for one tune (something Zoom wouldn’t even dream of, now would he?). Is nothing sacred?
I should add that the band Exene has assembled, whose line-up includes members of the earnest, spiky-haired St. Louis band she’s touring with, 7 Shot Screamers, were perfectly proficient, and it’s not their fault that their leader is a punk icon who fronted an LA legend and even still does from time to time. Also that the local band Lemonpeeler drew most of the hundred paying customers, and the crowd was looking rather anemic by the time the Screamers finished their set. But Exene was a trouper: she grabbed the microphone stand and graciously tore through a set of amped-up tunes that ranged from vindictive (“Who’s Laughin’ Now”) to poetic (“Sky Blue Pink”), tossing only one X nugget, “Year One,” in among tunes from her two Original Sinners discs. (The new one on Nitro is Sev7en). It wasn’t very classy, even a bit generic, but it wasn’t a total embarrassment, either. And given the circumstances, that was an accomplishment.
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