The Hunter Envoy
Vol. XLVII No. 12, November 19, 1991
Bands Shrieking to the Core
by Christina Lugo
[Excerpts]
While anyone can go to some fancy outside gig to hear a mixture of alternative rock and thrash, two weeks ago a handful of Hunter students were fortunate enough to see a free show at 305 Thomas Hunter Hall that featured three such bands -- The Shrieking Violets, Fancy Albacore and Merel.
The majority of the members of these bands are Hunter students, and they all displayed an excellent show, giving their appreciative audience original punk rock music in full form -- or, as Fancy Albacore describes their musical style, "Post-Apocalyptic, big band, smoothed out on the German speedcore tip." Whew!
The Shrieking Violets, an all female band, were the first to hit the stage in this tiny, dark yet club-atmospheric room. The Violets have been together for about a year and a half and have done gigs at ABC No Rio and Space at Chase.
During a fast song about the war in the Persian Gulf, guitarist and Hunter alumnae Thea Kacal[a]nos apparently struck her chords a little bit too much on the wild side; she had to replace her guitar for a full six-string bright pink one which coincidentally matched her high tops.
Violets bassist Stephanie Saddler, along with a little help from ESSG [Evening Session Student Government], was responsible for gathering up the Hunter bands and putting the night together. "I did this because it's so hard to get gigs in New York for bands. I also wanted to play on campus."
Saddler and Kacal[a]nos met when they were DJ's at WHCS. Who would have thought that a station dominated by rap, reggae and dance music would produce such a beyond-the-fringe band?
Their drummer, Ingrid Tejeda, played exceptionally well, though it was her final performance as a Shrieking Violet. Her departure is due to her current involvement in another band. The other Violets wanted to let anyone reading this know that they [are] searching for a new drummer, preferably (please, guys, don't get offended) female. The reason being, as Saddler mentioned, "There are not a whole lot of women in rock and roll."
Not to poke fun at men, but The Shrieking Violets played an interesting version of a cover song which was originally written about a girl who is a slut. The Violets switched the lyrics to refer to a guy who is a slut. One memorable and classic line was, "Hey Baby . . . Fuck You!" Also, among a long and melodic instrumental, The Shriekers did a humorous tune about bad Chinese food.
. . .
Hopefully, with more gigs at Hunter like these, a bigger attraction of punk, hardcore and gothic lovers will come about -- the type of audience that WHCS's "Tunes From the Underworld" has been unsuccessfully trying to seek (that's every Tuesday from 2 - 4. How about it folks?).
. . .
To sum it all up, this was a worthwhile and long overdue event that Hunter students desperately needed. Stella Dora approves!
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