The Tuna Helpers

Whatever happened to those freaky-deaky sisters we knew back in high school? You know, that one pair of punky-funky-gothy chicks who dressed like they were Tim Burton groupies or RenFest extras, knew every Kate Bush and Cure song by heart, and had unhealthy obsessions with dolls and fairies. We heard they moved to Austin and formed some wacko “all-female, pop-goth, experimental puppet-wielding band” called the Tuna Helpers with one of their ex-girlfriends. We’re not certain if Bethany and Adrienne Sneed are those same bizarre beauties we knew back when, but it sure sounds like them, especially with Adrienne spinning a melodic spell with her often operatic voice, meandering between whimsy and the macabre on both vocal and guitar. Her sis haunts the keyboard, lending an eerie, harpsichord-like sound to songs, while Adrienne’s ex, Khattie Quinones, pitter-patters on percussion. Their torrid tales — concerned with love, loss, and loonies — are frequently soulful-yet-ghastly and haunted-yet-humorous (like one lyrical ballad of how “Something seems askew/The children are all blue”) and are sometimes “sung” or acted out by puppets or similar fantastical means. We’re clueless about whether they’re our old peculiar pals, but one thing’s for certain . . . we sure ain’t letting ’em baby-sit our kids.