Rock-a-bye babies

>> The Sexareenos' Live from the Bed is a garage punk wake-up call

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

To "do the Sexareeno" correctly, you should be shakin' it with a strange dance combination of "the Mashed Potato," "Flippin' the Bird" and the good ol' "spill your malt liquor and barf" dance. Take the Premiers and the Wailers (no, not the Bob Marley ones, ya shmoe), a Back from the Grave garage rock compilation, a couple of Spaceshits and smother it in Farfisa cheese and you got one hell of a swingin' kegger on your hands.

The Sexareenos are about to release their debut long-playing sound recording Live From the Bed, on that bastion of raunch, California's Sympathy for the Recording Industry label. The Mirror caught up with the stunned and studious Colonel Lingus (bass, vocals) in the middle of a book-cramming session.

Mirror: So this is what you do when you're not a Sexareeno, huh?

Colonel Lingus: Yeah, I'm hitting the books. I'm taking marketing in school and Choyce (guitar, vocals) is going to be taking the bar soon and becoming a lawyer, "Work with me" Annie (organ, vocals) just graduated as an architect and Bridge Mixture (drums, vocals) is some sort of financial wizard or something.

M: Tell me what Long Gone John, head honcho of Sympathy, is really like.

CL: Other than running his label, he makes his living as an art dealer. He's also this crazy collector guy. He's got one of Charlie Manson's girls' vests, and weird stuff like a two-headed calf that he keeps in formaldehyde, Iggy Pop's jacket from Raw Power, all this original artwork by people like Robert Williams and Coop, uh, the Mummies' hearse. His house is just packed from top to bottom with stuff he collects. He makes so much money as an art dealer, he just does the label as more of a hobby.

M: You ended up doing the record with Jim Diamond (the Gories) in Detroit. Didn't you guys have Alex Chilton of Big Star and the Box Tops wanting to produce you?

CL: Yeah, we spoke to him and he was going to visit us but he couldn't get across the border because he had some charges against him from the '60s. Billy Childish of Thee Headcoats and the Milkshakes was interested, too. It was cool that we worked with Jim because he has this really cool studio in downtown Detroit with all these cool old mics and tons of old Vox amps and three Mosrite guitars and stuff. There is nothing in downtown Detroit other than his studio. We're doing the next record with Kearney Barton in Seattle. He did "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen and all the stuff for the Sonics in the '60s. He was the guy who sat in the room holding the one mic and stuff.

M: Are you guys gonna tour for the record?

CL: We leave in June which will take us to the Woodstock of garage, the Las Vegas Grind Festival, with the Remains, the Standells, the Lyres and a bunch of other bands. Also, we've been getting offers to go to Australia so we'll see what we can work out. :

Double record launch with les Sequelles at Café Campus on Friday, May 5, 9pm, $5