Sun City Girls, one last time

Saw the Brothers Unconnected Sun City Girls tribute (Alan and Richard Bishop paying homage to the deceased Chalres Gocher) at Barking Legs theater in Chattanooga last Saturday. I’d call myself a moderate SCG fan, owning only about 10 of their bottomless well of recordings, and I find Richard Bishop’s solo records of the past few years to be some of my favorite guitar records of late. So I was excited that the first of the two sets the Bishops played was comprised of acoustic guitar duets that revealed the mind-numbing finger dexterity and vast frame of musical reference the SCG displayed throughout their career. I honestly can’t recall the last time I witnessed such remarkably skillful guitar playing, and the two played with and off each other with an uncanny precision. Some kind of mind-link going on there.I loved every second of it, wasn’t bored for a moment and the time flew by.

The second set focused more on their shorter lyrical song, which I enjoyed for about 20 minutes before becoming fatigued by the sameness of the largely adolescent sexual obsessions and shock tactics on display. Much of it was amusing at first, but wore thin pretty quickly. Th eguitar playing was of course still good, but it served the songs and at times was reduced to simple strumming. There was one memorable moment when they played a song about infantcide disguised as crib death that was particularly uncomforatble, due to a baby in the audience that kept crying at the start and finish of every song. It was both an appropriately amusing and uncomfortable moment that had me squirming a bit, and was an excellent reminder that these guys just don’t give a damn about polite society and conventional mores. Since they’re both about 50 or so, it was oddly both encouraging and kind of silly to see them persist in their aggressively hostile mode. Alan seemed especially sinister, but that could well be because of the bald head and sunglasses.

Incredible musicians and true musical vanguards, I was so glad to have had a chance to see them together.  They’re national treasures, in that classic contrarian, underground  way.