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| xmag.com
: April 2001: Just Kick My Ass |
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People
form rock bands for all kinds of silly reasons, but the
musicians that make up the most fascinating groups are
usually motivated by reasons that are far beyond the mundane.
There is a restlessness to the creative spirit that can't
be satisfied by merely getting a job, going to school
or even getting laid. The Portland bands Betty Already
and Dear Nora sound nothing alike, but they share a basic
need to express those bothersome elements that laugh,
cry and dance in their respective unconsciousness. They
come at their art from different directions and make their
music happen through varying processes, but on their debut
records-- currently available--they both succeed admirably
and take their places as vital, happening constituents
of the Portland music menagerie.
Betty Already
Scott Young: Guitar and vocals
Icky Boom: Bass and background vocals
Murphy: Guitar and b-vocals
The Postman: Drums and b-vocals
The Bettys leap out of the gate in a whirlwind
of roaring guitars and snarly vocals on "Amerimaniacs,"
the title track of their self-produced inaugural CD. "We're
Americans/we're the ones/we're the ones with the biggest
guns/We're Americans/fuck the rest/we know how to kill
the best" is the refrain that guitarist/singer Scott Young
and singer Miz Kitty stomp on like it's a rat in the bathtub.
The music is punk-informed--they obviously own a few Ramones
and X records--but with well-placed metallic solos and
more up-to-date melodic substance than is usually mustered
by your basic three-chord cretins. Betty Already can pack
a wallop but they wisely realize there's more to the story
than just the flexing of musical muscles. If you clean
the gunk out of your audio holes and stand on your head
you can hear the joyous subtleties; it almost sounds like
the Pixies performing songs for a Rocky Horror Picture
Show revival.
Scott Young is the principal songwriter,
but each band member adds his/her own personal stamp of
vitality.
"I initially learned to play guitar to
help me with writing a melody," Scott says. "As I got
more competent, it just developed into writing my own
songs. With this project, I bring in the bare bones of
a song and the rest of the band is crucial in constructing
and filling in the parts that make it work.
"I was always serious about this band.
When putting the group together, I had to let everyone
else know right off the bat that this was going to take
practice and work to make it the best we were capable
of, or not do it all. We're all serious about doing
the greatest job we can with every gig we play."
Speaking of gigs, Betty Already is an
exceptionally fiery live band, with the various members
pushing each other to extremes of artful recklessness.
Icky Boom tells me that in a previous band, Scott got
them all 86ed from EJ's for climbing around in the rafters
before trying to leap down onto the cigarette machine.
Scott ended up with two injured feet and no more gigs
at EJ's.
"I've always tried to be theatrical,"
Scott explains. "The show is very important to me."
Even as Scott, Icky and Murphy rev up
the rock 'n' roll testosterone engine on stage, Kitty
coils and writhes, spitting lyrics like cold accusations.
And if all eyes occasionally fall on Kitty and whatever
volcanic outfit she happens to be wearing, that's just
fine with the fellows, who appreciate her gift for grabbing
some spotlight time.
"I think of them as my bandmates and
don't really notice that they're of the male persuasion
until the grunt work has to be done," Kitty says, from
the gender minority chair. "Then I realize that they
skedaddle and, because I have the female sensibilities
of getting shit done, I'm the one working away.
"And, it's often painfully obvious how
much smarter I am. Poor things. They can't help it...
they're just boys. Other than that, they crack me up
and keep me very, very happy. I adore them."
"Dear Nora's
soft harmonies and gentle guitar tangles are miles away
from the
blasting
ferocity of Betty Already, yet it's obvious that the
reckless spirit
of
punk rock was a liberating influence on both combos."
The group dynamic is one of constant
flutter and frenzy, which fits the material like a snakeskin
suit. Though not always in a lather, more often than
not, Scott and Kitty are locked on target, dissecting
some clueless twit: "You're a hydrogen bomb on a sunny
day/A dead baby at a picnic," they sneer on their song
"H-Bomb."
"Some songs are extremely personal.
Even the more political ones like 'Amerimaniacs' are
from a personal bent," Scott says. "I don't claim to
know exactly what's going on, but I know that I have
this anger against the government, The Man, the whatever,
but it's confusing as to why. I know I'm angry. I don't
exactly know why. The system is so complicated, I'm
not even sure who I'm angry with."
Like Dear Nora's main mover Katy Davidson,
Scott is an idealist--he believes in the serious cultural
weight that music can carry.
"Change the world? Absolutely; it's
done it before," he says. "It can change the environment
dramatically in a country, a region, the world. It's
something that happens when politics, culture, [and]
music all reach a crazed pinnacle at the same time
and the convergence changes everything."
www.seanbaby.com/bettyalready
Dear Nora 
Katy Davidson: Guitar and vocals
Marianna Ritchey: Drums and backing
vocals
While Betty Already look around at
the world and report on what they see and loathe,
Dear Nora's Katy Davidson takes a more introspective
approach to pop music.
"My songs are personal because they're
about things that happen to me, things I think about,
real-life melancholy, real-life joy," Katy tells me.
"However, my lyrical choices allow them to be interpreted
universally.
"I would not say that I am a political
songwriter, but rather a political performer. I say
this because several women have told me that my performances
have inspired them to write songs and perform themselves.
It's of great interest to me to see a lot more women
involved in music."
Though Dear Nora's first record, We'll
Have A Time, is definitely a catchy, uber-melodic
stroll through candyland, there is a pulsing undercurrent
of wistfulness that lets the listener know that this
is not the work of perpetually playful, giggling adolescents.
Even when she sings "La la la la, La la la la" in
"When the Wind Blows," the effect is bittersweet rather
than merely effervescent. Katy Davidson is like Nancy
Drew toting around an ambivalent diary stuffed with
dilemmas. Instead of smugglers and
pirates, the mysteries she needs to solve are mostly
in her head. As she dutifully reports on the vicissitudes
of life, love, and her quest for being, the songs
tumble out like fractured journal entries, the results
of epiphany and rough lessons. In "Since You Went
Away,' she sings,
"I think I've learned a lesson/I live inside a mess
and/it's never going to clean itself."
"My songs come quickly and abundantly,
with the music and words at the same time," Katy
explains. "They are inspired mainly by nature, human
nature, transitions. Most of them come at times
of great introspection, sadness. Most of them are
written in the wee hours of the morning."
The vocal interaction between Katy
and drummer Marianna Ritchey (also of Battle Cat)
is lovely and spot-on, recalling girl groups of
yore like the Ronettes and the Shirelles, while
deliriously steeped in post-punk femme outfits like
the Breeders and Lush. Dear Nora's oft harmonies
and gentle guitar tangles are miles away from the
blasting ferocity of Betty Already, yet it's obvious
that the reckless spirit of punk rock was a liberating
influence on both combos. It's like a tap on the
shoulder with someone telling you that playing by
the rules is for chumps.
"I think songwriting and the drive
to perform came really naturally," Katy recalls.
"In college [Lewis & Clark], I was surrounded
by an amazingly talented and inspirational group
of friends--a group that spawned wonderful bands
such as Yume Bitsu and Wolf Colonel. Merely by the
nature of their actions, these friends challenged
me to create.
"I decided to start my own band
and pursue music seriously after I lived in Glasgow
for several months in '98 and collaborated with
a lot of Scottish musicians. I also had a quasi-cathartic
experience in the front row at a Built to Spill
show in '99," she adds.
Katy tells me in parting that she
is Dear Nora both as a solo performer and as a band.
Got it. She is also due to tour with K Records artist
Mirah pretty soon. Duly noted.
www.magicmarkerrecords.com
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