Punk rock comes in all shapes, all sizes, all colors, and all genders. Originally, it was a badge of courage with the ability to supersede all of the aforementioned labels, but somewhere along the way, it has segmented itself like other aspects of society -- probably because of the stupid human brain, but that is another story altogether.
What's important here is the simple fact that The Venomous Pinks are a punk band. Not a "girl" band or a "chick" band, but a punk band, and on October 17, they will celebrate the release of their second EP, Exes and Whoas, at the Yucca Tap Room.
Even in this day and age, when anyone with a thousand bucks and a cassette recorder can put out a CD, the second EP for a four-year-old band is no small feat. Better yet, people around town seem to actually like The Venomous Pinks (as they should) and are excited about this release. Drea Doll (guitar), Gaby Kaos (bass), and Jukie (drums) have created a powerful five-song offering drenched in frustration, attitude, and East Coast-style punk panache. With the recent addition of former Dames (longtime local punks who also featured Drea Doll) guitar player Corrie Zazzera to round out the sound, these musicians are ready to take the next step in their evolution.
The Venomous Pinks rose from the ashes of the Dames and Janitors of Anarchy (JOA), two local bands that had better-than-average runs in the Phoenix music scene. The Dames, having played as far away as legendary NY venue CBGB, were probably better known than Janitors of Anarchy, but as Drea remembers it, "Me and Sue [from JOA] were like, 'There's not really a girl punk band anymore' because the Dames had died and My Doll (which, along with the infamous NLSF was another Drea project) had died, so 'we should start a punk band' and around April 2010, we placed an ad in New Times and said we needed a girl drummer."
This is how they found Jukie.
"Their ad had some key words in it that pulled me in. One was 'all girl,' one was 'bad ass,' and one was 'punk rock,'" Jukie says. "And I was like, 'Fuck, yeah. Let's do this.'"
After one practice, they were ready to take on the world and played out within three weeks of getting together. After a particularly spirited gig opening for John Lydon's post-Sex Pistols band, Public Image Limited, at the Marquee Theatre in October 2012, Sue decided to leave the band, and it was a no-brainer to add Gaby Kaos to the mix on bass.
"I played bass and upright for a long time in different bands, and I had the gear, so . . .," says Gaby, who prefers guitar but likes playing bass in the Venomous Pinks. Gaby is heavily involved with the AZ Kaos punk rock webzine, which is definitely worth your time checking out. Zazzera made her debut with the band at a recent show opening for O.C. punk brats (with graying hair) Guttermouth and rounds out the quartet with another talented yet snarling guitar.
Gender aside, the "Pinks," as they are often referred to, like to confront things head on, which is an admirable quality for any band. They wanted to have Roger Miret, legendary lead singer of Agnostic Front and current valley resident, sing on the EP, so they asked him to do so. Miret met the gals down at Villain Recording where "Exes and Whoas" was recorded and sang on two songs.
"Drea had sung backup vocals on the last Roger Miret and the Disasters record and did a great job on that and she asked me to come down and sing on their record, so I said, 'Sure.' I sang on two songs. The record sounds great," says Miret, who was on the road to Disneyland with his family when we spoke.
"They're really great girls and deserve what is coming to them. Their songs are good and the put passion into them," added Miret, and he's dead on with his assessment. Not a bad guy to have in your corner at all.
So Friday night (because that makes it all right), expect these women to bring the rock and the roll as they share the stage with girl and boy band, Scorpion Vs Tarantula, man band Grave Danger, all-female Descendents cover band, Des and the Cendents, and boyishly handsome band, Swapmeat. It's a 21 and over show, but the first 40 folks to show up will get a free copy of the new EP, so get out there early and enjoy yourselves. The Venomous Pinks will certainly be enjoying themselves so join in the fun.
The Venomous Pinks play Yucca Tap Room on Friday, October 17.
Find any show in Metro Phoenix via our extensive online concert calendar.
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