Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Swift Tracks: Polly Wants a Popgun and Cricket Taylor

By Brenna Rushing

Rockabilly is one of those great genres that gets overshadowed by other types of music. But many musicians in Dallas are trying to make a name for the style by labeling themselves as “rockabillies.” One of those groups is Polly Wants a Popgun.

Not only is their name distinctive, their look and sound are as well. PWP is made up of a gothic punk singer named Yve, upright bassist Derik Long, guitarist Smokey Roach, and Robert Burns on drums. Yve has black and pink hair and wears black dresses with fishnets, while Derik braids his hot pink hair in braids that resemble Pippi Longstocking (they stick straight out.) In lesser words, they are a sight to see.

Keithpixx Art and Photography

Yve and Derik Long of Polly Wants a Popgun

“You, Me, and a Bottle of Pills” is one of two of their songs on their MySpace. The second I heard her voice, a poppy version of the yeah yeah yeahs came to mind. She closely resembles lead singer Karen O’s high notes and her tone. You can’t help but move your body in some way when listening to their music, whether that be bobbing your head or doing the classic “I’m dancing” shuffle side to side.

They describe their music as “southern gothabilly.” I see where they’re coming from, but I don’t agree with the gothabilly. Although they do wear the goth look very well, they don’t sound like it. The group sounds like a mix of rockabilly with a touch of swing dance mixed in.

PWP is playing many upcoming shows in the DFW area, including the Curtain Club on August 9 at 11:00 PM. If you want to check out more of their music, they have numerous videos online.

Cricket Taylor is another rockabilly singer who comes out of Dallas. Before I even heard her music on her MySpace, her picture entranced me. She is imitating Marilyn Monroe in one of her naughty poses in black and white form. Yet again, a musician that looks nothing like the type of music they sing.

Cricket Taylor

“Stella Jones” is one of the few tracks on her space, but definitely the best. Her voice is dripping with emotion, and has a scratchy nature to it giving her more edge. Once I heard her I changed my opinion, thinking of her as a mix of Marilyn Monroe’s style and platinum blonde hair and Joss Stone’s soulful voice and deep notes.

She also plays guitar, but in this song Jason Crisp of the Nitrons plays it. The slide guitar has a few solos in the track, taking the song to another level by ripping chords and giving more diversity. The song is a true story, written about a woman in Mississippi (Cricket’s home state) who was suspected to be poisoning neighborhood cats and dogs.

Also in the song, Chet Hicks is on bass, Chris Chambers plays the rhythm guitar, and Ritchie Vasquez is on drums. Cricket takes on the harmonica and vocals.

Not only is Cricket a one-woman band, she is also a painter. She shows a few of her works in her picture section of her space, but there is also a link to her work on her top friends. Once I looked at her paintings, I realized just how little I do in life.

In a recent blog posting, Cricket says she is working on new music in a group called the ELECTRO-Magnetics. She also promises new shows soon, so keep a lookout on her space for new material.

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• Pegasus News Week in View: Beat the Heat edition (Aug. 7, 2008)

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• Arts > Popular Music > Rockabilly