cabaret indie live music music review rock ska

Edith Massey & The Evidence – “Live on the Sunset Strip” Review

So bad it's good again
Edith Massey & The Evidence
Edith Massey & The Evidence

Edith Massey of bad taste films fame (Pink Flamingo, Polyester and Desperate Living among others) from the 70’s and 80’s tried her hand at singing once. Well… not quite singing. It’s expressive talking over a band really – it’s so bad it’s amazing.

Opening with “I Got The Evidence” a rock band plays a funky riff that repeats over and over as she exclaims the title over and over and gets progressively more angry as the song goes on. “Polyester Girl” turns the band to ska with some very cool steel drum arrangements. It’s a genuinely nice song apart from Edith’s singing and some amazing lines like “She’s a test tube baby but look at her now!” Her signature track is the rocking “Punks, Get Off the Grass” as she calls out punks for “going nowhere real fast” – it’s the perfect satire to a proper rock track but I’m not entirely sure if that’s the intention or if it’s just terribly bad. Either way, the tracks, including the frankly disturbing cover of “Fever” to round off the EP have a great band playing really well. They must have been utterly stunned when they learned Edith Massey was fronting the band.

As with everything she touched, Massey is pure gold as a lady whom simply has no talent at all but is utterly adorable in the process and strangely draws you in anyway. For those whom love all things awful.

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