Kitty with the titty

>> The lovely Miss Kowalski, punk starlet and renaissance woman

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Pop-punk frontlady, former co-owner of NYC club Coney Island High, B-movie actress in the Troma camp, friend to Ramones and Dictators--indeed, Kitty Kowalski is a true millennium broad. With her band the Kowalskis (whose new disc was produced by Dictator Andy Shernoff) on their way to make their Montreal debut, the Mirror figured it was a prize chance to quiz this paragon of new-school womanliness.

Mirror: Half your band is culled from the ranks of legendary funnypunks Adrenaline O.D. How'd you score that?

Kitty Kowalski: It started when Let's Barbeque came out. I wrote them fan mail when I was a kid and invited them to my house for breakfast when they came through town on tour. They took me up on it, and I served them Pop Tarts and Cap'n Crunch, which I thought was a punk rock breakfast. They were just looking for a home-cooked meal. Jack tracked a dog turd through my house, and wrote to a local fanzine that was the best part about the breakfast! I was crushed. Years later, Paul came to audition for the Kowalskis, and I didn't reveal my true identity until he agreed to be in the band. He dragged Jack out of retirement sometime later. It's very funny to think that half my band was AOD. It definitely gave me more credibility with people who thought we were just another "girl band."

M: What's the deal with the cease-and-desist letter from the wrestler Killer Kowalski, whose name you were originally using in full? I thought he was dead.

KK: So did we. But how wrong we were! Not only is he alive, but he is still very active in the wrestling community and runs a school outside of Boston. When we played Boston, he saw the ad in the paper and freaked out. He though someone posing as him was making personal appearances. He didn't want people to be disappointed when they got us. He also wanted money! Handsome Dick Manitoba of the Dictators gave us the idea for the name. Now he has a bar, so I gave him a copy of the cease-and-desist letter, which hangs under a photo of him and Killer Kowalski.

M: Love the album title, All Hopped Up on Goofballs, but here's my question: where the hell do you score goofballs in this day and age? I thought goofballs disappeared along with bennies, zoot suits and Vault of Horror comics.

KK: This is how out of it we are--we didn't even know what goofballs were. There was this band argument about whether they were uppers or downers. I think they're downers, but the opposing argument is, how can you be "hopped up" on a downer? I just think the expression is brilliant. I think it sounds like us, whatever it is!

M: Hey, mad props for your part in Troma's Terror Firmer. It was a hit when it played here at the Fantasia festival last year. Looking back on it now, how do you feel working with Troma helped you develop as a well-rounded, insightful person?

KK: You know that expression, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger?" I'm definitely stronger because of my Terror Firmer experience. It's real DIY, so everyone's a pretty good sport about it. You have to have a lot of patience and stamina! There's no star trailers or anything. Half the time, we sat on the ground! I got to hang out with Lemmy. I got to keep my fake boob. I think I had the best costume! Every time I passed Theo of the Lunachicks, who's also in the movie, she would shake her head and say, "That is so sick!" Coming from her, it made me feel proud! :

With Teen Crud Combo at Jailhouse Rock tonight, Thursday, August 3, 9pm, $5