Happiness Hour
How about those Grammy awards? I would have felt better if something unpredictable had occurred - for once. But, actually, I know I'll feel absolutely exquisite if I never witness a stitch of Grammy bullshit again. Demented pop stars are more depressing than Flannery O'Connor short stories.
This voyage of the damned through Grammyland was taxing but I managed to pull myself out of the pop drivel snake pit with a single push of a button on my stereo. The long-awaited debut LP by Sister Double Happiness was the platter of choice. The first song cleansed my tainted palate, preparing me for a welcome, vigorous feast - ten hot courses of the very meat and potatoes of rock and roll. People make music like this for one really good reason. Sustenance.
Sister Double Happiness is an SF-based four-piece band, formed two years ago and
featuring vocalist Gary Floyd (formerly of the Dicks, a political hardcore band from Texas), guitarist Ben Cohen (exdrummer for Pop-o-Pies and occasional Polkacide member), Mikey Donaldson on bass (exOffender, played bass on LPs by DRI and MDC and drummer Lynn Perko (also formerly of the Dicks).
With frequent SF gigs, the band began to develop a small following of staunch supporters with that "go see 'em" look in. their eyes. After taking in just one SDH set, I was completely smitten and ready for the next.
Then it occurred to me that I had danced to songs like this 'til I was sore a few years ago. The familiar element was a basic blues style. But this was very different from the usual bar band blues I remembered. I wasn't bored after three songs by SDH, nor did I need to be drunk to enjoy them.
When Sister Double Happiness revs it up a bit, a sonic surge invades the blues structure like an evil spirit taking possession of an old farm tractor and then running the shit out of it. Ben's guitar seems to be the unnatural force that makes this tractor roll.
Mikey on bass keeps things tight, fast and ferocious while looking like a perfect long-haired rocker circa Deep Purple. Lynn on drums is a vision. Undeniable happiness plays across her delicate facial features as she beats her set with swift, concussion -inducing force. Combining these three players creates a roaring machine, seemingly headed out of control, yet maintaining the basic anatomy of each song.
Texas-bom Gary Floyd is the man with the voice that can stand up to the instrumental strength of SDH. As front-man for the Dicks he was more menacing and all of those other things that go along with being in a harcore band. He digs through his lyrics
with the fervor of a crusade, showing exactly what horror, humor or pain provided the inspiration for his words. To witness this event live gives me chills, a reaction I'm now able to duplicate by playing their eponymously titled debut LP on SST Records. Of course, high volume is a must.
Aside from Sister Double Happiness' bonafide aural majesty, this highly anticipated
release packs a much-needed political punch. Finally, one very noble American band has addressed the AIDS crisis pointblank. The emotional clarity of Gary's voice evokes the helplessness and pain that drives one simple message into an effective statement for the entire human race. Or at least a portion of the human race with a penchant for blues-guitar mayhem and a voice that's like a force of nature. If the LP does well, a very large audience will not be able to ignore the subject of AIDS, succinctly dealt with in two riveting songs, "Freight Train" and "On the Beach."
This is not Dionne Warwick and friends pussyfooting around on MTV. This is not the Communards' somber socialist samba-cum-disco embraced mostly by England's teens. I'm sure other examples exist, but SDH drives the hard truth home with lines like, "You ask me to tell the truth/ The truth is we're gonna die." Bluntly, the listener is forced to face it. Hail Sister! Someone had to do it!
In spite of such strong statements, I don't consider SDH a heavy-handed message band. The songs about AIDS won't ruin your day. I smile from ear to ear when they're played live, just because I'm thankful that someone has taken a stance, let alone a danceable one. But forget all of that for now, this disc has nine other cuts of a less drastic ilk. For example, the song "Poodle Dog" is a perverse, casual ditty about playing with a poodle. It's hysterical, with sexual innuendo galore.
The title cut, "Sister Double Happiness, " is a structural marvel, innovatively timed with drastic breaks and a swelling guitar crescendo near the end. "Let Me In" has a great vocal performance and some killer bass near the end, prowling out to jerk your head around. “Cry Like a Baby,” “Get Drunk and Die,” and “I Tried,” are the three most traditional blues cuts on the record, although "I Tried" seems to take another interesting twist in instrumental timing. All three of these songs are on fire!
"Sweet Talker" has a very American feel, crossing a ort of double-time hand jive rhythm with a Southern rock slide guitar reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd when Linda Blair was still their groupie babe. "It's Our Life" is an anthemic antiwar song with hefty doses of rebel metal guitar wizardry. The final cut on Side Two is "You Don't Know Me," the song they often close their live sets with. A natural singalong chorus is led by the band members and, in between, the guys get pretty reckless and loud with their guitars, only to return, as always, to the crunchy final chords, perfectly in place and blaringly dynamic.
As my turntable shut itself off, I closed my eyes and recalled the final moments of Sister Double Happiness' recent free show at DNA. Echoes of meaty guitar filled the club, Gary put his hands together and bowed; Mikey accidentally broke the beer bottle he was rubbing on his bass; Lynn crawled out from behind the drums with triumph written all over her ace; an I said to my companion, "Tonight they were better than ever." Indeed. We've got us a monster here.
