If Joan Jett endured a teen pregnancy carrying June Carter’s baby, itap likely the child would be the whip-smart, sultry Jessi Darlin of . Along with Nikki and Kelley Darlin, the trio swirled and gyrated in front of drummer — and sole male in the band — (Linwood Regensburg) at the Monday night.
For just about an hour, the band played an updated type of punk meets country meets summer-girl-pop. And if that sounds light, or the least bit twee, believe me, it wasn’t. The hard driving rock they played is fully aware of the Velvet Underground, New York Dolls and the Runaways. It was as if the Ramones all came back to life as impossibly sexy girls, got obsessed with the Pixies and took a long look at Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and R.L. Burnside, and put the band back together — full of their new found knowledge.
From the moment they opened with “$,” from the new album “Screws Get Loose,” to the closing measures of an incendiary, 8-minute cover of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates’ “Shakin’ All Over,” these three girls had the crowd either mesmerized and slowly jerking, or downright howling and epileptic.
Although that wasn’t enough for the band, apparently, as Kelley quipped about halfway through that “Y’all don’t dance nearly as much as they do in Salt Lake.” The challenge worked, and by the end of the show, the crowd was a sweaty, throbbing mess.
The quartet played “Be Your Bro,” a tune thatap destined to identify the band with its smart lyrics and sweetly fitting situation, and followed immediately with the surfy “Boy.” Through the stoney “Mystic Mind” (piqued by Jessi’s wide open eyes, staring zombie-like at the audience), the fast and happy “Bumd” and the bluesy “Tina Said,” a muddled sound was the only thing keeping the band back. By the time they played a perfectly fitting Americana version of Circle Jerks’ “Wild In The Streets,” it seemed the muddle was worked out.
They wrapped up the now sweaty, grinning audience with raucous versions of “Wild One” and “Screws Get Loose” before closing with the mega sultry Kidd tune. As young as they may seem, this group’s roots belie anything you might think they’ve missed, and they flaunted their solid rock and roll as well — or better — than the legends they channelled that night.
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Billy Thieme is a Denver-based writer, an old-school punk and a huge follower of Denver’s vibrant local music scene. Follow Billy’s explorations at , and his giglist at .
