The Exploding Punk Inevitable! Revue
The Choke
The Slipper Room
New York
August 9,16,23,30, 2006
By Wayne
(SugarBuzz New Yok City)
Photos By Wayne
Seeing The Choke live for the first time has blindsided fans describing the experience in ways similar to getting hit by a bus or otherwise physically assaulted from head to toe. My own Choke epiphany came while seeing them open a Sold Out show for The Buzzcocks, they were the first of three bands but demanded our attention from the opening blast ultimately receiving an unprecedented response from a NYC crowd more commonly known for its’ indifference.
Simultaneously explosive and tight as a Fundamentalist’s asshole the band features guitar-slinger Hott detH, Josh ‘Knuckles’ Machlin on bass that’s much more than bottom, one of the city’s best drummers (and harmony vocalist) Jonny Napalm, plus up-front and impossible to ignore is Cameron Eve, a dynamo of seemingly inhuman proportions with a voice as commanding as her presence. She’s solidly in the tradition of great NYC female rockers, part of a long line of the toughest and greatest - Patti Smith, Helen Wheels, Genya Ravan, Joy Ryder, The Shangri-Las’ Mary Weiss - influenced perhaps by them all but sounding like no one but herself, with the power and force of a locomotive hers is a massive presence that transcends her relatively diminutive size becoming a giant on stage for reasons musical and otherwise.
The Choke are a band doing things their way and not content with following the pack slogging it out on the local circuit such as it is, competing with the endless inferior bands that crowd the Downtown club scene like lice. Instead they’ve opted to play a select series of unique and special events which have included a residency in the U.K. earlier this year, the afore-mentioned Buzzcocks tour, and taking a cue from Andy Warhol’s Velvet Underground-featured happenings New Yorkers were treated throughout August to ‘The Exploding Punk Inevitable! Revue’.
Taking place over four consecutive Wednesday’s at what I believe is a former Vaudeville speakeasy on the LES featuring a different program each week of Strippers, Burlesque Queens, Fire-Twirlers, Pirates, Drag Queens, Sideshow performers, Comedians, Glitter-Rock courtesy of DJ Lady Starlight and more from the city’s jizz-crusted underbelly, each event culminating with The Choke. In a general sea of mediocrity wherein Punk is the new conformity The Choke stand head and shoulders above the pack, they seem more amazing with each additional performance while demanding the attention and success which is clearly their due.
Of course without great songs a band is nothing and The Choke have songs with hooks that will rip your throat out, songs that glue themselves to your mind the first time you hear ‘em and never let go, NYC punk rock & roll (though you’d be excused for thinking there’s a hint of Detroit) that recalls the best of the 60’s and 70’s originators yet sounding like they could come from no time but right now. This is a band which thinks a second between songs is a second wasted - wait to catch your breath and you will pass out - and for everyone who understands the enormous role sex plays in the greatest Rock N Roll, regardless of whether you’re gay, straight or some combination of the two, if you’re libido isn’t electrified by the sight and sound of Cameron Eve you’re probably paralyzed from the waist down.
If like me you’re the type who refuses to compromise your tastes or settle for less it can be an enormous chore to endure endless mediocrity in the quest to find something to recall former glory, turning over hundreds of stones in search of that one band that can hit you in all your vital centers and hit you hard. The Choke are that rare band and the first to come along in a long while that guarantees to go all the way in our hearts if not the charts though that‘s exactly where they belong. With a single scheduled for imminent release produced by The Buzzcocks’ Tony Barber this is the band to watch and the band to catch next time you hit NYC. The Choke are destined to rise like a priest’s dick at the sight of a 10-year old!
