You know, it really thrills me when locally known or identified talents suddenly hit upon new levels of achievement or notoriety, a convergence of details all in their favor or the creation of their finest work to date, hitting their full artistic stride or the top of their game, entering a realm that will likely insure them some of the exposure they so richly deserve. There have been a couple of shining examples of this recently and it would be a sin to not faithfully sing their praises here in the pages of Beat This. The first is Lynn Breedlove, upon the publication of her first novel entitled Godspeed. Lynn, best known as the full-on, balls-to-the-wall vocalist for the punk dyke metal band Tribe 8 whose very existence has pushed issues of expression and equality and sexuality into places and faces as diverse and unsuspecting as the male dominant punk rock scene and the separatist and initially perplexed Michigan women’s music festival for a decade now. There was really nothing like seeing Lynn onstage skank dancing in a circular motion, shirtless with a strap on dildo sticking out of her pants, which at times she’d eventually saw off with a chainsaw or dull knife or force a guy in the audience to go down on, but the simple fact that she did these things not just here in SF but all across the states in places where people weren’t so tolerant of anarchist feminist political vaudeville, or mock genital mutilation, or genitals for that matter. Where-ever Tribe 8 went, they blazed the trail for so many other women of the underground, lesbians that even most lesbians were afraid of, the marginalized subculture of extreme butches to FTM’s, mod prims, green-haired punk dykes, cartoonists, lesbian S&M sex workers, women of contemporary literature, aggressive spoken word artists and poets, filmmakers etc., all these unique factions brought together by simple mutual admiration and respect for Tribe8’s tireless commitment or just the awe they inspired in so many others like themselves to be themselves. After all, not every dyke wore khakis, had bad mullet haircuts and dangly earrings and listened to the Blazing Redheads. There was a new outrageous dyke emerging, defying assimilation, being confrontational, throttling the gay community with artistic endeavors replete with political purpose, creating a new voice and opening the floodgates to thousands of others. To me Lynn Breedlove was the perfect example the new and extreme lesbian of the 90’s, Futuredyke, like a super-hero flanked by her band of equally empowered, fearless female greats. She also created and ran an all-female bike messenger service called Lickety-Split and one day she had some photos delivered to my home to accompany an article I was writing and the messenger who made the delivery was the most stunningly beautiful woman imaginable, an enigma with eyes that danced with light, and I thought, Lynn, you’re such a dude, imagining a fleet of similar Goddesses making up her staff.
More recently there has been some changes in Tribe 8’s line-up, most notably the departure of long time guitarist Lynn Flipper, a great player with teen idol-good looks who has decided to make films instead of music for now. Her departure had some worried about the fate of Tribe 8 but some new players were added and reportedly the change has sparked new life into the band. Enough so to have earned them a spot on an upcoming bill that in some ways must be a big highlight, thrill or milestone for them as a band, for on April 25 at the Warfield Theater Tribe 8 will be opening for Siouxsee and the Banshees! But wait! Right at press time another show was added on the previous night at the Fillmore same line-up so that’s twice they’ll have the honor—and a possible second chance for folks to get tickets as the Warfield show sold out like instantly.
But enough about that, the book Godspeed (St Martin’s Press, $24.95) is what I wanted to talk up here. I’m only about half way through Lynn’s first novel and it’s the kind of book I purposely force myself to put down and halt my consumption of it because I want to make it last as it is so rich and fascinating and hard and funny, a page turner that takes you on a journey weaving in and out of harsh reality and drug induced hallucinatory whimsy, memories to present moments, heroism to humility, violence to tenderness all in a rapid-fire highly detailed manner so fresh it crackles with amplified surges of uncontrolled noise, rolls you through filth and smells so acrid and blows directly to the synapse of nervous impulse as opposed to just getting under your skin. You experience this uniquely alive turn of the phrase with all five senses and it takes your breath away. For a first novel this is so strong it’s frightening.
In the acknowledgements it states, “Mom says to tell everyone this is a work of FICTION.” as the book’s main character Jim, a dyke bike messenger speed freak who dates strippers and kicks ass and sells drugs and lives in a squat and tours as a roadie for a punk dyke band, bears some definite parallels to Lynn’s own life. If you’ve ever heard Breedlove do any readings or spoken word stuff that she does so magnificently, you have an idea of the narrative fast paced style Godspeed takes on, but just an idea because she hits on a whole new realm of effectiveness in construction and she tells so many stories within stories, with incredible characters bouncing in and out of Jim’s singular quest for the ultimate drug high or the love of Ally Cat, the stripper of his heart who can’t abide the junkie behaviors yet can show him glimpses of the one thing in life he might fully submit to, romantic love. Or at least that’s what I’ve gathered so far, being only halfway through the book and savoring each chapter like a fine feast. I will say that the book portrays certain drug experiences with the most evocative accuracy and conceptually detailed descriptions that I’ve ever read. The rituals, the preparation, the ceremony, the high, its metamorphosis as you introduce another drug on top, and then another, the personalities encountered in buying drugs, the people surrounding dealers, the casualties who lose their minds and are hearing aliens, the perpetual tweak projects that never reach completion, and some of the most graphic and ugly details of severe abuse I’ve ever heard—they’re all in there—the agony and the ecstasy, served up without judgment, romance or glamour, just the truth.
I maybe should read the rest of it before going on more but I think the literary world is going to take note and recognize that with Godspeed a brilliant new talent has emerged—alive and kicking ass. Buy this book—it’s beyond just great.
Finally, the other local or semi-local act that I feel is really on the verge of getting the massive attention they so deserve is Imperial Teen, especially after their thoroughly delightful show at The Great American Music Hall last week. On the heels of their third and latest release, On, which I reviewed a couple issues back, Imperial Teen played a set to be proud of. The new material worked perfectly, the band never seemed happier, and proficiency was at a definite high. It was a buoyant ebullient set, focusing on the new material yet including all the best songs from their previous albums. The response of the crowd prompted a second encore from the band with Roddy Bottum explaining, “A long time ago when we first started, we decided to be one of those bands that never played an encore, now look. That idea really stuck.” Over all it was just a really fun show. I’ve written about them so much already I cant think of much more to say besides I think they are somewhat over-looked and underrated for such an attractive group of people creating some of the best intelligent contemporary pop music out there today. The fact that they’ve been chosen as the support act for the upcoming Pink tour, the young artist of “Lady Marmalade” fame in heavy rotation on MTV, is an excellent opportunity for Imperial Teen to possibly reach a larger audience who are bound to adore them, its hard not to. I believe it’s going to be a good year for a great band.
Incidentally, Pink who had seen a particularly inspiring 4 non-blondes show in her youth apparently sought out vocalist Linda Perry to collaborate with and she ended up co writing Pink’s entire second album, which has produced two hit singles so far and I also noticed that Janice the beautiful and seriously talented bass player from former San Francisco sensation Stone Fox is now playing bass in Pinks band and can be seen wailing away on her instrument in Pinks latest video. Linda Perry also has a cameo appearance in the “I’m Coming Out” video as a bartender and was featured a lot in a recent episode of MTV’s A Day In The Life: Pink. Just thought you’d all like to know.