Jet-Set Jenna, lead vocalist of Detox Darlings, performing at CBGB, photo © 1999 NY Rock

I've come to decide that there are two things which should never be tampered with: the fabulously depraved décor of legendary rock club CBGB and the time-tested formula used to produce the rich, frothy beverage known as Heineken beer. I not only had the pleasure of experiencing them both on October 15th, but the added delight of catching two great local acts in the process: Annie Golden and the Shirts, and Detox Darlings. It was a delightful night of rock & roll though, in hindsight, I probably could have done without that fourth beer....

The Shirts had just taken the stage when I arrived a tad before midnight. Led by the ultra-talented Annie Golden, the band harks back to the glory days of punk (when Blondie, the Talking Heads, the Ramones et al, surfaced in the late '70s) and is currently making something of a resurgence on the scene. Annie may no longer be a springy little 16-year old but she can still belt out those high notes with some sort of otherworldly ability. In fact, when her voice effortlessly reaches the upper registers of the stratosphere it's gotta make you wonder if there isn't some sort of heaven out there, after all.

Annie Golden of the Shirtsphoto © 1999 NY Rock

Golden is the consummate performer (God, I just love using that word). She commanded the stage in a choreographed but seemingly uncontrived fashion and sang flawlessly throughout the evening. I spoke with her briefly following the show and soon discovered that she's quite the busy woman these days. She recited a laundry list of projects in which she's recently been involved including television spots on "Third Watch" and "Law and Order," and appearances in feature films such as 12 Monkeys. No mention of cups of tea with Bill and Hillary but, hell, who could blame her for steering clear of those two kooks.

Well, it wasn't until something around two in the morning when upstarts Detox Darlings took the stage at CBs and here's where I ran into a little trouble with the evening's refreshments. Really, I'm not promoting this for all you kids at home but by the time Detox came on I, admittedly, was a little drunk. Looking back at my notes, it fortunately didn't appear to affect my writing although my speling did seem to suffer a bit.

Nonetheless, I did appear to be having a damn good time watching Detox Darlings and taking turns on the old digital camera with my wife, the always effervescent Pumpkin Luck. Detox is a marvelously rambunctious quartet fronted by the luscious, fair-haired Jet-Set Jenna. The remainder of the band consists of Charles Liss, who is an ace on the guitar, and the ever-throbbing rhythm section of Spyder Darling on his shocking pink B.C. Rich Bass and Mike Magoo on drums.

Jenna is a burlesque beauty. She had this red-feather boa thing draped around her neck and fishnets beneath a black leather mini. My eyes suffered little, even when they were seeing two or three of her. The band plays with a joyous abandon that's simply infectious, loud, fast and spirited, just the way Conan the Barbarian meant it to be when he wrote the manual on this stuff.

Watching Detox is sort of like chewing on the most wonderful wad of Bazooka you've tasted to date, or maybe shooting the best bag of … um, let me put it this way: You poor bastards out there in Oklahoma are missing a hell of a lot of fun. Buy yourself a ticket and get out here. New York's still got the best rock & roll in the world, Guiliani or not.

Kitty Kowalski, photo © 1999 NY Rock

The Kowalskis at Acme Undergound, 10/22/99

Lindsey "Kitty" Kowalski has a distinct tomboy charm about her. She sort of reminds you of your older sister after she's downed a bit too much of Mom's brandy. As the Kowalskis took the stage, Kitty asked the crowd, "Could anyone out there do a girl a favor and bring me a beer?" She had an immediate taker. In fact, she had two. Kitty, true to form, wound up drinking from both bottles at the same time (the sexual implications are obvious – I won't even touch 'em).

Kicking off shortly before midnight, the band cranked out a spirited set of Blondie-esque power pop with Kitty out front in a T-shirt proudly displaying the slogan "Pussy Rules" – but hey, if you're here on NY Rock, you probably already know it does.

November 1999

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