Fabulous Disaster

Panty Raid! (Pink & Black)
by Ewan Wadharmi

The first thing that crosses your mind when you walk into a Fabulous Disaster performance is, “Hey, chick band!” The second thing that crosses your mind is, “Holy shit, this ain’t a chick band… This is a punk band!” The third thing is that guitarist Lynda Mandolyn looks an awful lot like the cute girl at Togos sub shop in Concord who reluctantly gave you a mohawk in 1989. The fourth is how you’re going to ogle her pudgy belly without arising suspicion from your wife. Fifth, you’re distracted by a flash of light that turns out to be the sticks blurring in the drummer’s hands. Sally Gess is truly brutal, smashing with blessed abandon. This’ll hypnotize you for quite a while until you remember to make eyes at the guitar player some more.

The line “candy and decay” from “My Addiction” defines the good-time punk of Panty Raid! Though fierce, they remain feminine without resorting to cutesy. Singer Laura Litter spews out every-woman tales with occasional pop harmonies for icing. The lyrics are easily negotiable in personal boy-meets-girl/girl-meets-girl terms. Great tones from gripping guitar lines and climbing bass from Mr. Nancy bind the glass and barbed wire into compact bundles. Use the energy for cleaning the house, kicking the cat, or interpersonal acrobatics. If you stripped Social Distortion of their rockabilly and manhood, Fabulous Disaster is what you’d find. Song-based, self-propelled satisfying punk that won’t sound dated in a couple of years.
(PO Box 193690 San Francisco, CA 94119)