Geraldine Fibbers living dangerously

Mixed-genre indie band to perform Sept. 11

Listening to the Geraldine Fibbers can be a dangerous experience.

With lyrics like "I fucked my first fruit today lousy lay" (from "Toy Box," the second track off their latest album, Butch) the five-piece country/punk/blues band sets out to challenge your mind and soul with inventive music and violently honest singing/screaming as provided by lead fibber Carla Bozulich. If nothing else, they are a great live band, the kind of group that grabs your attention and never lets you go.

So what are the Fibbers like? Try "don't take no for an answer baby doll/take your pill and wash it down with perfume/I'm in bed ready to be exhumed/got a strong heart blue heart baby smart." Imagine this over a driving chorus of noise, almost losing you with motion and images and then suddenly the music stops and Carla screams: "I...think...I...HATE YOU!!!!"

Bozulich grew up in Southern California, where after playing for a number of bands she became addicted to drugs and "died" for the next few years, walking the streets and hooking for money.

After an unsuccessful rehabilitation attempt involving a former pro baseball player and Mahler, she eventually kicked the habit and formed the band Ethyl Meatplow.

In the midst of the LA hair-band scene of the mid-eighties (the bassist once had Axl Rose for a boss) the Meatplows used no guitars, relying on samples, energy, and dildo-clad dancers to create an intense experience for anyone lucky enough to see them in concert.

Regrettably, the band broke up after an argument about whether to bring guitars in the mix. Carla's leather/vinyl-clad performances and intense vocal style had garnered her a level of popularity, but it was unlikely anyone could have predicted what would happen next.

Carla went country. No, not Garth Brooks country, mind you, but the more traditional country: Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, and the like.

Forming a band with drummer Kevin Fitzgerald and bassist Bill Tutton, as well as a violinist and (gasp!) guitarist, they recorded a debut 12" called Get Thee Gone that blended the traditional, musical sound of country (Tutton usually plays a stand-up bass) with Bozulich's personal, image-filled lyrical style.

After putting out a full-length, Lost Between the Earth, the guitarist left and was replaced on Butch by Nels Cline (for a good introduction to these two, see Mike Watt's all-star album Ball Hog or Tug-Boat?).

Jessy Greene recorded the violin parts on the latest album, but the lineup seems to be rotating on tour, so look for anyone to show up with the fiddle. On Butch the style wanders from the more traditional country sound to encompass a few rockin' punk numbers, some folky ballads, and a spiritual or two.

Go see the Fibbers live; let the lyics wash over you without noticing the exact words and simply grab the meaning from the way your mind reacts.

When it's time to pay attention Carla will let you know. And when that time comes, don't even think about looking away. The Geraldine Fibbers are dangerous.

Geraldine Fibbers play Thursday, Sept.11 at 10 p.m. at the 'Sco. Admission is $5.