Jean Paul Jean Paul give 100% of their love at the Silhouette Lounge on Monday, 11 September 2023.

Marvel Prone, Big Rav, and Cindy Crawford Cult know a thing or two about Goo in the support slots.

Two gallants chatted at the counter while nursing beverages served up by Bill the Bartender.

The topic of conversation this Hump Night? Sonic Youth.

The first guy’s a real fan. He especially liked Kim Gordon. Low voice, short skirts, super sexy. You never heard of this band?

No, not really, never heard of them. But the second guy says that another guy who worked at his warehouse always wore a Sonic Youth t-shirt. So maybe he has heard of them…

The first guy says the first time he ever heard Sonic Youth was a Madonna cover.

Who can say for sure, but can any reader name a Sonic Youth cover besides the Ciccone Youth versions of “Into the Groove(y)” and “Burnin’ Up”? You know, the tracks with Thurston Moore and Mike Watts goofing around on The Whitey Album.

That’s an odd fucking entrypoint for Sonic Youth fandom, but there you have it.

In other countertop news, no kids are taking up rock n roll anymore. They “just want to rap.”

Hey, Kool Thing. Come here…

Cindy Crawford Cult

We’ve reported on two-piece rock n roll before. Sometimes it’s a two-piece by design, like Washer. Sometimes it’s a two-piece because the third guy’s out sick and the show must go on, like Science Penguin or The Love Shamans.

And sometimes it’s a solo act who roped in a supporting cast for the night. Fact checkers are scrambling, but that seemed to be the Cindy Crawford Cult situation. A freak folk solo act that weaves in additional musicians as they become available.

Shout out to the gold lamé lapels. Extra points for perking up Bill the Bartender’s ears, who loves that old time rock n roll.

Marvel Prone

Speaking of Sonic Youth, Marvel Prone had that spirit if not that sound. The four-piece played musical chairs with its lineup, shifting players around from front to back, left to right, up and down, so you never knew who would be fronting the next song.

Reminds you of the way Sonic Youth would write their albums. This song’s a Thurston Moore song. Kind of an aggro, punky, speed slog. This song’s a Lee Renaldo song. Oddball melody, probably a beat poetry breakdown in the mix. This song’s a Kim Gordon song. Toss breathy lyrics atop a bluesy, medium tempo riff.

Marvel Prone does you one better by putting the drummer front & center for a song or two. Sonic Youth’s drummer Steve Shelley never got so much action.

Big Rav

The Boston-based four-piece Big Rav laid down big sounds to a big crowd in the backroom at the Sil.

A mix of covers and originals. Shout out to the dive bar version of “You Oughta Know”. Extra points for the keytar.

The frontwoman got cornered by wellwishers after the set who advised her that she needs someone to “accentuate” her voice, rather than downgrade it. “Trust me, I got this. I know people in New York City, not Boston.”

You know, the Big Apple – longtime headquarters for Sonic Youth!

Jean Paul Jean Paul

You couldn’t really imagine altpub rockers Jean Paul Jean Paul sharing a bill with the maestros of altered tunings Sonic Youth. Or could you?

Sonic Youth headlined Lollapalooza in 1995, sharing the bill with notables such as Hole, Cypress Hill, Beck, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Coolio, The Roots, Patti Smith, and Moby.

Jean Paul Jean Paul has a kind of Cypress Hill meets The Mighty Mighty Bosstones energy. The crowd comes out for this band, and the five- or six-piece delivers a house party vibe. You know, the parties where cummerbunds swing from chandeliers and a keg of White Claw smashes through a car windshield. By accident. Nobody got hurt, and it was an abandoned vehicle that was due to be hauled off to the junkyard the next day.

And you CAN order kegs of White Claw.

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