Live: Girl In A Coma, Houston

Girl In A Coma: from left - Jenn, Nina and Phanie.

We wrapped up 2010 with a cool little in-store performance Dec. 31 at Houston’s Cactus Music & Video – featuring the San Antonio punk trio Girl In A Coma.   I’ve been hearing good things about these girls since last year’s SXSW conference, and brother blogger Citizen K suggested we check ’em out.

Girl In A Coma is anchored by the rhythm section of drummer Stephanie “Phanie” Diaz and bassist Jenn Alva, and fronted by singer/guitarist Nina Diaz, Phanie’s little sister.  Nina is a ferocious singer and certainly no slouch on the guitar.  The girls have released three albums on Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records label.

From the album Trio B.C., Girl In A Coma started their in-store with “Bb” about a “little man,” and its jaunty stomp hit the right groove.  They also did “El Monte,” where Nina moons over some guy only to realize she’s “just another score.”  They also did an awesome version of Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight,” from the band’s most recent effort, an album of covers titled Adventures in Coverland.  They also did a new song from a forthcoming album, but I didn’t catch the title, sorry.  (Also apologies are in order for not taking photos – my camera’s busted.  Got a new one comin’ in from NYC, and we’ll be back in business next week!  In the meantime, check out the Cactus Music Facebook page for some good photos by Jay Dryden.)

I must say I was totally impressed by Nina Diaz’s style.  Don’t let her looks fool you – Nina really rocks out.  She holds nothing back, not even for a little in-store performance, and her voice is one of a kind.  Their short performance at Cactus certainly sent me to their recordings – I highly recommend Trio B.C., released in 2009, and Adventures in Coverland is pretty good too, with standout covers of Joy Division’s “Transmission,” George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and Selena’s “Si Una Vez.”

What a great way to wind up the year; it’s nice to see somebody is ready to rock into a new decade.  We thoroughly enjoyed Girl In A Coma … and if you catch ’em live, you surely will too.

Girl In A Coma official website

Blackheart Records

YouTube: “El Monte”

YouTube: “Cherry Bomb” (with Cherie Currie) and “Static Mind” at SXSW 2010

YouTube: “Walkin’ After Midnight”

Bonus Song of the Day: “Cherry Bomb,” Dakota Fanning & Kristen Stewart

Yikes! Actresses Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart perform “Cherry Bomb” as jailbait rockers Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, roles they take on in the new movie The Runaways.  Video courtesy of MTV.com.

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Your Sister’s (Record) Rack: The Runaways

Thought we’d give this one a spin before the mythology kicks in a few weeks from now: The Runaways, from 1976.  The movie of the same name is supposed to start soon, and needless to say, it’s going to paint the real story in big, bold colors.  The Runaways were an all-girl rock band that came out of L.A. around 1975, put together by veteran L.A. producer Kim Fowley, they were 16- and 17-year-olds who could really play their instruments.

Joan Jett was a guitarist and the main songwriter, guitar player Lita Ford, bassist Jackie Fox, drummer Sandy West and pretty blonde lead singer Cherie Currie.  Many people are saying THIS is the first real all-girl rock band – don’t believe it.  Check out Fanny, which broke up the same year the Runaways got together – actually Goldie and the Gingerbreads were the first all-female rock band to sign to a major label (1960s) and Fanny was the second (1970s).

Anyhow – The Runaways.  Like any red-blooded young American male of the era (OK, I was 20 years old), you weren’t cool if you didn’t own a copy of this album.  “Cherry Bomb,” the group’s only big hit, kicks off the album; like many of the other songs, it was written by Joan Jett and Kim Fowley.  Currie had a throaty, husky singing voice and her delivery gave the band’s music a bit of toughness that the overly polished musicianship didn’t really sell.  Probably she was a little extra pissed off when she cut the vocal for “Cherry Bomb” – apparently Jett/Fowley wrote the song about her.