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Punk Rock Social

By Murphy Lynch

DOWNEY, Calif.  November 19, 2005 -- Punk Rock Social - Live is a monthly punk rock show / club held at the Anarchy Library in Downey. Now I'm not sure how "social" it normally is, but on this particular night, it was fairly packed with punk rock ladies. Granted, it was a "Ladies in Punk Rock" night, so maybe this brought out more than the usual number of women. Besides the nice atmosphere, the bands are the real draw. I went to see Civet from Long Beach but was blown away and feel like a born-again punk rocker after seeing the headliner of the evening, Franki's Broken Toys. More on that later.

The first band I saw was The Holograms, a group that has actually gotten quite a bit of press lately. All of the band members are female and right around the 18 year old age range which meant they couldn't hang out and meet people afterwards. The Holograms put on a rockin' show anyway with their brand of bubblegum punk. Various press have said that their album was produced by Blag Dahlia from the Dwarves which can only be a good thing, and their sound does have a similar flair as some of the Dwarves' poppier songs. Now if they'll just play naked like the Dwarves ... oh damn, did I say that out loud?

Civet (properly pronounced ci-VETTE) was the band I had driven down to see. I only knew them from a burned CD that someone had given me, but right from the first listen, I knew that I had found my new favorite band. The music takes the beautful vocals of singer/guitarist Ms. Liza Graves and punches them in the gut with a killer band rounded out with "sisters in punk" Suzi Homewrecker on guitar, Bad Cat on drums, and Jacqui Valentine on bass. Civet play really hard music with, for lack of a better term, Brody/Distillers-inspired vocals. Comparing Civet to the Distillers isn't really fair because they are much harder, faster, catchier, and prettier than the Distillers will ever be. When they took the stage, you knew that you were witnessing pros.

Ms. Liza Graves talked with the audience between songs, as if she were just chatting with friends, and made quite an art out of talking to the audience while staring at the tuner on the floor and continually re-tuning her guitar. Each new song brought out the music and voice that I was needin' like a junkie and Civet was the fix. When they finished, I blew a bunch of money on merch like a 13-year-old school boy with a crush, and now I don't have to worry about my CD-R crapping out. Support this band. They are on Disaster Records and will scratch that festering punk rock itch that just won't go away.

Now for the headliner of the evening. I had never heard of Franki's Broken Toys before, so I was already feeling content with my evening and thinking of heading home. After cooling off in the parking lot for a while, I thought, "What the hell, one more beer won't kill me," and I wandered back inside. I was not prepared for what I was to see. Civet had warned us that if we had not heard of Franki's Broken Toys before, then be prepared as they, "are going to tear you a new one." And there's no doubt, Franki and the Boys did just that.

My satisfaction in seeing Civet was soon replaced with a dumbstruck feeling as I didn't think any band could rock harder. Franki wails like Cinder Block from Tilt but with more edge. She has amazing power that flows though each verse and chorus, but when she wants to, she can turn on the edge that just makes you want to cry, it's so good. I was laughing and smiling and on the verge of tears. The sound is refreshing yet classic. These guys hold down some mean ass music while Franki goes over the top in all the right ways. You can't help but get your body moving for each song. I'm a guy and I don't dance, so you gotta really bring it on to get my booty shakin'.

The band is top-notch and certainly deserves as much credit for the powerful set as Franki. Franki's a great singer and performer, but those talents would not have shone as brightly as they did if it were not for how tight and explosive the band was. Each member has serious punk rock pedigree: There's drummer Joey Ruffino from China White, guitarist Sharon Needles, formerly of Butt Trumpet and Betty Blowtorch, guitarist Don E Snell from donE211, bassist Shawn, formerly of Cell Block 5, and of course Franki, who was in Boobie Trap.

The set was capped off when Franki grabbed an extra pair of drum sticks and climbedg on top of the front of the drums, showing everyone her ass. She then began beating away and held down the rhythm so that drummer Joey Ruffino could play off of it and create a real drum solo. Think about it. Two sticks are fast, but four will be twice as fast. The drummer was able to double the beats with Franki and really bring the closing song to a crescendo that only seasoned vets at the top of their game can do.

This was jaw-dropping good music, and I wasn't the only one who was flabbergasted by what they saw. You'd think I worked for the band or something the way I'm gushing, but I'm just a first time fan who was utterly and completely blown away. Normally I wear earplugs, but even when I remembered halfway through the set, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. The most frustrating part of writing this is that you won't believe me. It's just a review after all, just one person's opinion. Even when the band I had come to see, Civet, told me how good they were, I blew it off. So all I'm saying is remember them. Remember that name: Franki's Broken Toys. Scribble it inside your desk drawer, binder, or favorite book. Because chances are when you run across it again you will think, "Damn, I heard about these guys way back when ..." There is no way that these guys won't be huge if given the chance. My only gripe: they didn't have any schwag for me to blow a bunch of cash on. I guess they've been too busy kickin' ass to worry about that kind of stuff. If that's the price we have to pay, then so be it, just let there be Toys, Franki's Broken Toys.

* * * * *

I missed out on two of the best bands on the bill tonight, Hitchcock Blondes and L.A. Slumlords. The show opened with the three-piece all-girl band, The Hitchcock Blondes. They showed off some creative songwriting and a flashy lead guitar melody on a stand-out song the lead singer described as "a new one." The more male-dominated L.A. Slumlords rocked out later with a total straight-on punk look and sound.

Looking back over who they've had play at previous shows (The Vibrators, The Queers) and who's playing in the future (The Smut Peddlers & more!), Punk Rock Social - Live seems to be the best punk rock club out there. Go for the incredible bands and stay because it's a lot of fun with your kind of people, punks. Each band is that good and there's no filler here. Being at the Punk Rock Social is like hanging out with all of your best friends at a party that happens to have all of the best bands you've heard of, but never seen, and all playing live. And like I said before, the girl-to-guy ratio is pretty damn good, so do yourself a favor and check it out. If you have half as much fun as I did, you'll wonder why you haven't been going already.

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