Uncle Fucker

THIS NEW YORK-BASED QUINTET is currently without a record label, manager, publicist, or booking agent--pretty much like any other toiling underground band. Fortunately, Uncle Fucker has a couple things going for it, as they've become the ticket-not-to-miss amidst the jaded downtown scene.

First, it has a squad of Suicide Girl-looking dancers called the Fuckerettes, and, if you asked me, I would rather a group of women (particularly when called "The Fuckerettes") on stage in short denim shorts, 10-gallon hats and lassoes than a fucking publicist any day. And second, Uncle Fucker is "a spectacle" of a live act, as guitarist and singer Izzy Zaidman aptly puts it, "and tends to go over well in front of a larger variety of freaks, old metal hashers, and younger kids with the fucked up haircuts." He's not kidding.

Uncle Fucker is, according to Zaidman, the only grasscore outfit going. Blending Slayer-like riffs and brass knuckles attitude of New York hardcore with the twang of bluegrass, Uncle Fucker--Zaidman (aka Slick Dick Grizzly), fiddler Katy Cox (aka KT Crusha), banjo player Jack Ward, bassist Snickkas Skwire, and a drummer named Freeball--is like watching the cast of The Young Ones on an episode of Hee-Haw or, conversely, like a square dance for the Tompkins Square Park set.

"I was a metalhead and way into NYHC but used to play bluegrass with my dad," says Zaidman. "I wanted a venue to play fast and fancy licks without being retarded--its basically just a good excuse to totally overplay."

Uncle Fucker began about three years ago when Zaidman got together with Freeball and original bassist Jason Us to experiment a bit with the combination of metal and bluegrass. Hoping to land a gig alter a few weeks of rehearsal, the band members got their first shot the next night at New York's well-known lesbian dive bar Meow Mix. "We had four songs and no dancers, but everyone was really into it," Zaidman says with a smile.

Since such humble beginnings, the mighty Uncle Fucker toured with Mindless Self Indulgence last fall and winter, and recently released their debut. Usurpers of the Tradition. (Despite the band's label-less status, Usurpers can be found in most major music stores.) To boot, the band's record release party featured Courtney Love and Hole playing clean up. And yes, this is the same New York show where Love allegedly jacked some guy in the head with her mic stand.

"That is a classic example of the type of thing that happens to us," says Zaidman. "Courtney was playing the Bowery Ballroom the next night and her manager wanted her to play an unannounced thing. So they came in, jammed out, and I don't know--she smacks some guy in the head. He runs out, and the next thing I know Celebrity Justice is waking me up early in the morning. I was very hung over."

Hung over or not, Uncle Fuckers brand of hillbilly punk will fortunately continue to mix things up. "I am sick of regular rock radio," he says. "I mean, if I have to hear drums, bass and guitar do 4/4 or 3/4, I am going to stick myself in the eye."

That he doesn't need a publicist to get done.

COPYRIGHT 2004 High Speed Productions, Inc
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group