cal's is the last thing you'd expect to find smack in the south loop—a filthy rockabilly dive with no cover, cheap imported bottles, and guinness on tap. the rotten fruits, the third band in a lineup of a show the flyer called a 'homo punk riot,' may be the last thing you'd expect from 3 fags and a dyke: balls out punk rock.
with lyrics like 'we’re here, we’re queer, we’re not going anywhere’ and antics like humping and splashing beer on audience members,
lead singer germ managed to all but clear a packed bar during the first half of the band’s set. their entire show was marked by such necessary punk elements as beer baths, nosebleeds, and nudity. dressed at first in a huge blonde wig, shiny jacket and tie, and white spandex pants with pink polka dots through which a black g string was visible, germ was soon stumbling around with the pants around his ankles and nothing on above the waist but a pair of arm bands that said ‘rotten.’ it was in this vulnerable state of undress that he pitched himself onto the cigarette-, beer-, mud-, and broken glass-covered floor and rolled around, regaining his feet covered in grime and somewhat bleeding.
of the 15 or so people who remained indoors for their show, a few formed a mosh pit in front of the band (there was no stage), others keeping clear but offering the occasional friendly shout of ‘faggots!’ the pit kept itself pretty well in check, thankfully, since i was right next to it, and one kid with an old camera held together by masking tape (a photojournalist from some d.i.y. rag?) looked like he got some pretty good shots, including germ sucking on a banana, without breaking it further.
behind the ranting, writhing, rouged-up lead singer strangling himself with his mic cord, the other three fruits made with the noise. the guitar player looked like paul reubens’ demon twin in bright red lipstick, and tom girl mya was badass on the drums. she claims to have played a poor set, but with punk, what does it matter except that you bang those skins and bang ‘em hard? and did she ever. the bassist was relatively inconspicuous but could be caught making campy faces; he reportedly co-founded homocore chicago a few years ago.
UPDATE:
| ok so the fruits have broken up...you can still own their song 'fuck media faggots' on two comps: stand up + fucking fight for it on agitprop records and punk rock monsters on mugshot records. and look for other tracks to maybe appear on a split 7" someday--also wild rumors are circulating of germ venturing into a new rap career!! |
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update from monday, july 15
good news, germ fans! the fabulous front man from the erstwhile rotten fruits has himself some new musicians. jaysin novacaine from the punkabilly band the rolemodels on guitar and bassist liz the lez of ex-gynoblast. look for the group to perform some new songs in september. random rotten fruits link to tide you over: http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/creation/daylight/article2.html |
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