Twist and shout

Ripping it up with the Fabulous Itchies

by Michael Caito

The Fabulous Itchies

It was a band ideology meeting of sorts, and by its end the Fabulous Itchies had decided to take a swerve away from their original early-1960s Tacoma-inspired flavor and move in a different direction. This just before singer Story Lewis and drummer Jay Capaldi left the lineup. "With [Story] we were doing punky garage stuff," guitarist Brian Dardeen explained on the phone this week, "and ironically, in hindsight, we'd already sat down and decided to shift focus to dance numbers and partying numbers. So when Story left it didn't make a big difference because we'd already made a decision to switch, and [drummer] Jen [Yakes] had come in at the same time. Story is missed, but the shows have gone over well, and Jen, nine months into it, is now right there with it, doing surf rolls and everything. She came from a punk / pop background and didn't know the style at first, but we knew she could play. Story usually still does a few songs with us live," Dardeen laughed. "Except that now she's lucky that she gets to do the fun stuff and avoid all the other grief."

So what could have been a disastrous lineup shift has proven otherwise, and now the Itchies check in with a splashy debut, the 15-song CD Here Come the Fabulous Itchies (A Go-Go) (Big Dummy). Bassist Ty Jesso has assumed vocal duties, though the quartet (also featuring guitarist Steve Prouty) have already had the benefit of playing in front of tremendous crowds, opening for Link Wray and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. So their fan base has been increasing, even given the fact that touring (due to Jesso's high school teaching schedule) has been limited thus far to regional gigs.

That's changing too, as of spring break, when the Itchies grab a bit of the touring life with the Bomboras, whom Jesso had originally persuaded to play here. But that's not news per se; for years he, as well as the CD's producer Dave Auchenbach and Jesso's close pal Jonny Maguire (ex-Phantom Creepers, Royal Crowns) have brought dozens of acts to area clubs who may have otherwise ignored the Providence market altogether. Auchenbach, a veteran of numerous pop bands from days as a Parent with John Orsi and Cathren Dan to What Now to more recent outfits like small factory and Flora Street, does a bang-up job on the disc, recorded at Pleasure & Pain Studios, especially given that the Itchies' sound is a bit of a departure for him. Longtime fans should also be alerted to the fact that there are a coupla older tracks featuring Story and Jay on the CD, recorded by Tom Buckland back in '96.

Dardeen, guitarist and recently-married Oldsmobuick alum who presented an advance tape while his old Oldsmobuick pal Stan was lighting it up in the Crank-Tones last Friday at the Green Room, was quick to credit Jesso, Auchenbach and Maguire with helping to keep the rootsy, rockabilly-tinged, garage-y scene cooking in Providence. "The Itchies were originally started as a way to just have some fun. People have responded to that feeling we're putting out, and a lot of the bands that those guys have helped bring here, like Billy Childish, certainly fit that bill too."

Dardeen still speaks with immense reverence of his experience with Link Wray, who the Itchies have honored with a cover on the record and with whom they recently shared a bill. "The track's not recognizable even to his fans, it's not typical Link," he said. "He lives in Denmark, and we'd heard before the show that he was pretty much keeping to himself on the road. So Iwalk into soundcheck and see this little guy playing this crappy European hollow-body through this huge Marshall which was turned to the wall. He kept telling the soundman `more guitar, more guitar' until the empty Met was just crushingly loud. Then he sees me, holds out his hand and says with a huge smile, 'I guess we're playing together tonight.' He was really friendly, all smiles and laughs, hung out after for pictures and autographs. An amazing night."

This from a guitarist whose band recently featured a dozen go-go dancers onstage at Lupo's, who have a secret play called the Beer Stunt, and who will referee the release party's Twist contest. The CD effectively captures their onstage enthusiasm, and while the Itchies aren't headlining, the other bands are equally proficient in making audiences move. "Our good buddies the Bomboras are making a special trip to play," Dardeen mentioned, "along with Satan's Pilgrims, who are a great surf, organ blastin' combo who hail from Oregon. They have a few records out on Estrus. The Bomboras are on Rob Zombie's Zombie-A-Go-Go label and have been on tour nonstop for months. I caught up with them in San Francisco on Halloween where they opened for -- and blew away -- the Cramps. [So] this should be a great, great show."

The Fabulous Itchies play the Green Room on Friday with the Bomboras and Satan's Pilgrim (the Itchies are on second, cover is $5).

THE MAGIC "I." But that's not the only release party that night, as about 300 feet away The Iditarod hold their own Magic Eye Records celebration, finding Jeff, Karen and Margie teaming with Meridian 15'20", Chris Daltry from Purple Ivy Shadows and New Yorkers Poem Rocket.

HOLY ELECTRONICATECHISM. Meanwhile, Amy Zimmitti writes to inform of her band's latest project, going up at AS220 Wednesday: "The Blessed will be testing a short set of new track mixes on the public ear . . . media-oriented and subliminally demented, almost entirely electronic, and having no present [peer] in genre to the music industry standard . . . our material has not yet been performed outside of Idiolect Laboratories, our local production studio . . . performing are myself, Amy Insular, and Owen Tate. There is a good chance that the other two characters in the band will be making an appearance . . . Tommy Peep and Butta."

Pendragon celebrate their 15th anniversary on Saturday at the Greenwich Odeum, with special guests, stepdancers Kevin Doyle and Julie Logan. Info at 885-9119. Meanwhile, those wishing their halls decked can call the Philharmonic at 831-3123 for details on RIPO's performance of Home for the Holidays this weekend at Vets. Stone Soup features a Saturday night of Central and South American music with the debut of Sol y Canto, and special guests David Rumpler's Brazilian Ensemble.

Also on Saturday at the Century there's a strong (if not quite Celtic or Brazilian) lineup where 8-Ball Shifter go psychotronic with Thee Erotics and Highway Strippers. 8-Ball Shifter's brandy-new Flesh Eating Frenzy!(Curve of the Earth) is a dangerous and wickedly fun 14-song ride. A flesh-searing effort from the Boston trio of Jim, Rick and Eee. That's right, Eee on g and v.

CREASE MONKEYS. Important home game for the first-place Bruins Friday. Carrey or Grahame, the puck stops here. Go B's.