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Nashville Pussy heats up town

Straight ahead rock ’n roll doubleheader What: Nashville Pussy with Bionic Where: Garfinkel’s When: July 22 It’s 113 degrees in Arizona.

Straight ahead rock ’n roll doubleheader

What: Nashville Pussy with Bionic

Where: Garfinkel’s

When: July 22

It’s 113 degrees in Arizona. "Hot and sweaty, just like our shows!" exclaims drummer Jeremy "Remo" Thompson, one fourth of metal rock band Nashville Pussy.

On the road with, appropriately, the Reverend Horton Heat, the Atlanta-based band is promoting a new album, Say Something Nasty , released on Artemis Records.

After six years together as a musical outfit, Nashville Pussy is still going strong, and they want the world to know about it.

Guitarist Blaine Cartwright says the album is "our best one yet, and we’re gonna shove it up America’s ass!"

"After you play live for a while things sometimes get mutated, but we’re really happy with the new record," says Thompson.

The album was recorded in the dry county of Glasgow, Kentucky, population 15,000. The nearest beer store was 30 miles away. Thompson says with little to distract them in Glasgow lots of work was done.

The 15-track album features "raunchy, high-voltage Southern guitar rock." Original song titles include You Give Drugs a Bad Name, and Keep Them Things Away From Me. Covers include a version of Johnny Winter’s Rock ’n Roll Hoochie Koo.

"We rock for the stupid and the smart – our audience runs the gamut every night, but everyone wants to get laid," says Cartwright, who wrote 11 of the 15 tracks.

"We’re straight ahead rock ’n roll, and there isn’t a lot of that these days," adds Thompson.

While there isn’t a lot of direct interaction with the audience, sometimes the rules are bent.

"We played for the Hell’s Angels in France at an outdoor concert. We wanted them to carry us in on their motorcycles," he quips.

That didn’t happen, but Nashville Pussy did have grand-daddy of funk George Clinton (of P.Funk All-stars) pop in when they played Amsterdam.

The band lineup also includes Ruyter Suys on guitar and Katie Lynn Campbell on bass.

Cartwright invited producer David Barrick to come on board for Say Something Nasty . Barrick, who assisted Cartwright with former band Nine-Pound Hammer, brings "warm tones and good vibes" says Cartwright.

Since their 1999 Grammy nomination for Best Metal Band (they lost to guitar kings Metallica), Nashville Pussy has been pumping out the songs.

Fried Chicken and Coffee was their single nominated for Best Metal Performance in the same year.

High as Hell

was the next album, released in 2000, which included a live bonus track of Struttin’ Cock. A movie soundtrack incorporated two tracks, Wrong Side of a Gun, and Shoot First and Run Like Hell.

One Orange County reviewer called Nashville Pussy "swaggering, hedonistic, riveting."

In an interview with Vox magazine, guitarist Suys says a typical evening with the band means "someone always gets laid, or someone is always breaking up."

"We ain’t no Marilyn Manson – but we are a metal band!" adds Suys.

Bionic, who open for Nashville Pussy, are touring to promote their new album, Deliverance .

The album hits stores in September and will be followed by a European and American tour.

With front man Jonathan Cummins (formerly of the Doughboys) on guitar and vocals, the Bionic sound is leading a "return to rock."

"People are reading about rock, and not getting it. The Hellacopters, Electric Frankenstein, are real rock bands," says Cummins.

"A lot of young people grew up listening to electronic, and are excited when they discover rock. People are digging a little deeper now, as those old club venues are closing down."

Bionic includes Tim Dwyer on drums and vocals, Paul Julius on bass and vocals, and Ian Blurton on guitar, and vocals.

"We’re not doom metal by any means – people will recognize songs," adds Cummins.

"We don’t wear matching suits, we’re extremely loud and intense. We’d compare our show to more of something like the Who, than mainstream rock.

"We believe in what we do, and try to give people real rock, whether it’s a crowd of five or 500."

Rock twice, not once, at Garf’s.