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Sex with Lurch? Anyone who remembers Ted Cassidy's portrayal of the Addams family's hulking butler will be forgiven if they find the concept difficult to grasp. Sex with Carolyn Jones (who played the seductive Morticia in the classic mid-60s sitcom)? Absolutely, but did anyone then even ponder the possibility that Lurch had a sex life? ‘Sex With Lurch’
on strange tripThe band hits Waikiki and has a
method to the madness of the
music from diverse originsBy John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comCertainly not Robbie "Tom Kat" Quine, even though he happens to be lead vocalist, guitarist and co-founder of Sex With Lurch, an L.A.-based performance/rock band making its Hawaii debut with a three-nighter this weekend at the Wave Waikiki. It just sounded like good name for a band that liked to blend surf rock with a bit of Goth and humor.
"I wrote a song called 'Night of the Surfing Dead,' which is kind of like a B-movie theme, just kind of a fun song, and we had an old song, 'Monster Surf Party,' which is sort of the same thing, a bad, campy, B-movie sort of song," Quine said during an afternoon conference call from Los Angeles earlier this week. Quine was sharing interview duties with SWL guitarist/vocalist St. Bernard (known off-stage as Bernard Yin), who handles the band's promotion and publicity, and gets the other half of the credit for creating Sex With Lurch out of an earlier project called Medusa Head Trip.
Quine describes Medusa Head Trip's evolution into Sex With Lurch as something that "coagulated" as a fusion of "surfing, but garage '60s rock 'n' roll classic mixed in with it. (The name) Sex With Lurch --"
"-- Conjured a picture," Yin interjected.
"I'd been surfing with Bernard and we've been in two bands together, and it just all came together," Quine said. "We're from Hollywood so I grew up in a glitter-rockish environment, and I've always loved it, especially the English glitter rock, and we decided to go with Sex With Lurch and give it a try and see if playing out in Hollywood, people would like it -- and they did."
Honolulu gets its chance to experience Sex With Lurch for three nights at the Wave. The live show is described as a blend of David Bowie, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and Marc Bolan, with surf rock, glitter, glam, Goth, bare skin and transvestite camp overtones.
"There are a lot of dimensions to what the group is about, and we like the fun side of the dark side," Yin said.
"It's very tongue in cheek. It's a lot of fun, the crowd usually loves it, and we like it too," Quine said.
Where: Wave Waikiki, 1877 Kalakaua Ave. Sex With Lurch
When: Sunday through Tuesday
Admission: $10; must be 21
Call: 941-0424
There's more to Sex With Lurch than glitter, mascara, and the old "boys will be girls" thing that remains so popular in Hawaii. Listen to SWL on CD (if you can find one -- some will be available at the Wave) and it's clear that Quine, Yin and the band have something to say that stands apart from the freak show aspects of their work.
"A lot of people come to our show and they're surprised by the songwriting," Quine said. "We want to have both -- a really good performance, and also songs that give people goose bumps. It's not enough to get up there and put on some wacky show and there be no substance to it. We want it to be great all the way around. When people say I'm a good songwriter, that to me is the highest compliment."
Songs to listen for include "Lonely Beach" and "Pretty on the Inside." Yin says they'll probably do some of their edgiest stuff on Sunday.
SWL will perform as an eight-piece show band with Aniela on bass (she also plays cello when SWL performs "coffee house type things"), Roy Staley on drums, and "The Queens" (a k a "The Lurchettes") Electra Lux and Brandy Warhol on backing vocals.
Paul K, the group's Minister of Propaganda and performance artist, won't be there, but filling a different slot will be Dr. Peacock, the newest member of the SWL family, who plays baritone guitar and adds what Quine describes as "a spaghetti-westernish kind of sound ... low, country-twangy" sound.
"You can say he's a recognized L.A. producer but incognito. He wants to live the life of an underground rocker," Yin said.
And, yes, Sex With Lurch does include Lurch, who in another existence was an Orange County DJ but now plays theremin and synthesizer, and occasionally dances.
"Lurch came to us after we named the band," Yin said. "It was an accident. When we first performed as Sex With Lurch, some of our early performances were basically as just a straight-ahead four-piece rock band. There was very little that resembled a sort of freak show, but without a doubt we loved the flamboyant and theatrical side of rock 'n' roll. That element kind has sort of evolved."
So what's next for Sex With Lurch?
"We have this secret desire to have a hell of a great time in Hawaii and hopefully earn the love of everyone sufficiently that when we return we can bring a larger and sicker show," Yin said.
But planning that next "larger and sicker show" requires sustenance and Quine, a former Hawaii resident, wanted to know whether we still have Patti's Chinese Kitchen.
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