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Beat Street

Soul Asylum

By Todd S. Inoue

Wynona Riders fib and tell

IN TRIBUTE TO the real Winona Rider, there are a total of three lies in the following article. See if you can pick them out. Despite the slag I gave to the Wynona Riders in a recent review of the album J.D. Salinger, I actually do like the band a whole bunch but want to pinch them for being such smart alecks. At the last Wynona Riders show I saw, they taunted the crowd, talked smack about their label, played over their allotted time, and filled minutes with covers of the Mentos commercial and the theme song for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The band even promoted itself as the first "all-male riot grrrl" group. Who wouldn't want to smack 'em?

Wry cynicism--and incurable insomnia--is fertile ground for the band's pseudo-intellectual lyrics and catchy emo "punk pop." Wynona Riders' lead vocalist, Skip, read my review. "I think it reflects a popular attitude out there," Skip said, on the phone from the band's hometown of Alameda. "After shows, a lot of people have commented how nice we are. I don't think we act incredibly nice."

A question that begs asking: has the diminutive actress from Petaluma ever appeared at a Wynona Riders gig? According to Skip, Ms. David Pirner performed a raging burlesque on stage during the band's cover of Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl." "It was the craziest thing," Skip said. "She still has that 'Johnny 4-ever' tattoo on her arm."

Wynona Riders' clock is stuck on the year 1992. In October of 1992, the band was supposed to finish its first record (which became J.D. Salinger in 1995) and even a CD-ROM. That is, until the original guitarist bailed, leaving all projects--musical and high tech--in limbo. "When we made the record in 1995, I wanted to pick up where we left off," Skip said. "Then we found that everything that was topical in 1992 was still going on today. We would have fit right in."

Now, the band is tapping into a whole new generation of fans stuck on 1992 values--garrulous punk pop with revealing lyrics--in 1995.

Skip stews that their fans aren't getting their punk from live shows, but from a modem. "I've joked that our entire audience is on the Internet and they stay on there and don't come to our shows," Skip sneers. "We come from that Internet perspective of crack-subgenius, postmodern, deconstructionist types." The Wynona Riders don't shy away from technology; they've embraced it, setting up a righteous Web site at http://www.dnai.com/~standard/wr.html. "I'm trying to get a newsgroup up called alt.insomnia, so people who are awake at night can go looking for prurient things to read."

So instead of kissing a computer screen, come out and see the Wynona Riders with Hickey, GUI and Your Mother. The show is Saturday (Jan. 20) at the Los Gatos Teen Center. Wynona Riders played the spot before and blew everyone away. "They said it was the first time they had a crowd that dismal," Skip owed up. "I hope some people get some kind of solace from us, seeing how we're outcasts, too, especially now with punk being so hip."

Around the Dial

Where has City Revolt been? The city's fine underground music publication returns this week (Hi-Fives are the cover boys) after moving to new headquarters, a warehouse in downtown San Jose. Meanwhile, City Revolt is co-sponsoring a satisfying triple bill on Friday (Jan. 19) at the Cactus with Snair, the Flexapleasers and 4-Banger. ... The deadline is Feb. 15 for bands to get themselves listed in the new Book Your Own Fuckin' Life, a guide to underground bands, zines, venues and labels published by Maximum Rocknroll. Send band name, address, phone number and description (40 words or less) to Bleeding Heart Collective, 4728 Spruce St., Box 354, Philadelphia, PA 19139. ... Stanford's radio station, KZSU (90.1FM), starts up another session of Wednesday Night Live, where local bands play live in the studio at 9pm. Matewan takes over the airwaves on Wednesday (Jan. 24). Upcoming appearances include Creamy, Spazz/Agents of Satan and Red #9.

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