PIT Report article 
(written by Joe Bonni, Associate Editor)

A couple months back, I was at the Paradise.  A
double bill  of Letters To Cleo and Smackmelon
drew me there. Letters, headlined the night
and as far as I could tell sold out the
Paradise.  Towards the end of their set the
crowd, sweat soaked, was more alive than most of
the hardcore shows I've been to.  The kids
pressed against the stage did their best to keep
moving despite the crush, and at any given time
there were several bodies surfing through the
crowd - the majority of them female.  "This is
pop?"  I asked myself.  

Kay Hanley, lead singer for Letters To
Cleo, steps off the stage for a breather before
their encore.  She is covered in sweat, her
pigtails droop a little, the expression on her
face is one of exhausted satisfaction - a
strange afterglow.   She has seemingly given her
all, but no, they return to the stage, a Nirvana
cover follows, off Bleach, no pandering
to the MTV crowd.  The crowd looks almost as
tired and pleasantly beat as she is.  This was
indeed an awesome performance.  Anyone who may
think there isn't energy and intensity in the
alternative pop/rock genre didn't  attend this
show.   When I tell Kay, a few days later, that
we want to do a story on Letters, she seems a
little stunned, and complimented.  Considering
their national status (big hit down at SXSW -
front cover of Billboard magazine - recent
signing to Giant Records -and constant national
exposure and touring) I'm equally complimented
that she's excited to have her band in this here
rag.  "But we're just a pop band.  You want us
in the Pit Report?"  Yeah.  Good music is good
music.  

As the Pop issue fleshes itself out, Kay
informs me that Dave Gibbs from the Gigolo Aunts
is crashing at her place.  The Gigolo Aunts  are
underground pop heroes.  A slew of EP's and
singles out over the last 5 plus years has
garnered them both national and international
airplay and notoriety.  Their first major label
release on RCA, "Flippin' Out" has met with
virtually nothing but positive response and has
also kept them perpetually on the road.  Karma
must be with us as I now have the opportunity to
sit down with two of Boston's biggest and rising
bands at the same time.

I lug over a case of Black Label, a pack
of cigarettes and my girlfriend, a grammar
school and high school classmate of Kay's. 
Michael Eisenstein, lead guitarist of Letters
and Steve Hurley  guitarist of the Gigolo Aunts
join Kay and Dave to fill out the roster. 
Conversation meanders for a bit and I realize
how horribly naive I am to this particular genre
of music, my girlfriend saves my ass a few times so I
don't look like a total ignoramus, but
eventually I have to ask;  when current music is
awash in crossovers and throwbacks, when
industrial can be mixed with folk, when the kids
are moshing to Letters to Cleo as well as Tree,
what exactly is Pop music?

"If Mikey Dee likes it, it's pop," answers
Kay without missing a beat.  Mikey Dee, the
associate editor over at mother 'zine the Noise,
may indeed be the Webster of pop music.  It
wouldn't be too far from the truth to say that
the Pit Report was in part begun as a means to
cover music that didn't fall into the pop/garage
heavy slant of the Noise.  So, why a year and a
half later are we shifting gears?  Well, for
one, these two bands deserve it.  Hard,
persistent, dedicated work has given hem the
opportunity to travel and play music for people
who want to hear it.  Not a bad life, and fer
shur, these kids aren't getting rich off it. 
Dave's semi-permanent home on Kay's couch is
testament to that fact.  Dave sheds more light
on Pop, what it is and it's importance...
"Pop is short for popular music.  It
doesn't matter what it sounds like.  Buffalo Tom
is a pop band.  Cheap Trick were a pop band. 
Husker Du were a pop band.  The song is the main
focus as opposed to say, a Nine Inch Nails where
the sound is the thing."
"No one else could define that better," 
states Kay.  "I could not."
"For me, "  Dave continues, "It's not
about being very progressive.  It's more of a
craftsmanship and that's also where the problem
lies because you can get a lot of pop bands who
are very crafty and good at writing structured
songs but they lack...  something.  For a pop
band to be good they have to have a lot of soul
and passion .  A band like Jellyfish ; they all
sing, write really good/clever songs, but they
miss that element of soul." 
"Passionless sound," Kay adds.
"Another thing about Pop bands, is that we
all have the same influences more or less," 
Steve, who has been listening to his bandmate
pontificate on the merits of pop, adds his part
of the definition.  Michael sits next to Kay
quietly.  I think he was satisfied with the
Mikey Dee litmus test - if Mikey's at a show and
playing airdrums, it's pop.  "But don't wear
those influences on your sleeve so that when
people come along they say, 'Oh that sounds like
Badfinger, that song sounds like the Beatles.' 

"The biggest band in the whole world -
ever - was a pop band."  Steve's mentioning of
the Beatles apparently prompts Dave to bring it
way back, to the band that set up most of the
rules for modern music.  "Everything kinda'
stems from that."  Truth be known, whether it be
in recording techniques or song structure. 
Rigid song writing or experimental music.  Love
songs or psychedelic trip-fests.  Hard rock or
ethereal background music.  The Beatles set the
early parameters that every band in Rock and
Roll has had to either master, emulate, or
destroy.

Kay can't agree more, "The days have come
where it's no longer such a horrible thing to
say, 'I love the fucking Beatles!'  I listen to
them every day of my life and I'm no longer a
pariah for saying that."
Songcraft is the thing it would seem. 
Study the masters, and also what they wrought. 
Learn the technique and then bring yourself into
the music...
Mike finally speaks. "The thing that you
add is not gonna' be an innovation.  It's just
that one thing that's in here,"  he points to
himself.  "That makes my music different form
hers."  

The discussion goes on for some time
revolving around similar points, but we seemed
to have captured the essence of pop music, and
what makes these bands tick.  So often we talk
of aggression in these pages, but sometimes not
often enough about passion.  So too could that
be said about rebellion vs. discipline; much
leaning should come before deciding what ideas
to reject and what to accept.  Musically, this
genre can offer up the same integrity and
intensity of our usual Pit fare, but instead of
a primal scream, it is a well honed delivery. 
Such discipline would seem to have paid
off for the Gigolo Aunts.  For those of you
unfamiliar with the boys, how about a little
background...

We're in the midst of the never ending
tour, begins Dave trying to fill me in on what
they currently up to.  We put out our album
on independent label, Fire Records over in
England first.  It came out last year.  It was a
good eight months before it came out over here 
so we've already been touring for eight months. 
We went to Japan, and Finland and all over
Europe.  Now we have to concentrate on touring
hard all over America because the album just
came out over here on a major (RCA - jb).  In
Japan were on a division of King records called
Dog Style Records.  King is a huge corporate
label over there and they think Dog Style has
something to do with surfing. 

Least one think that the Gigolo Aunts have
completely sold out overseas, consider that
their label mates on King Records are Babes In
Toyland, Pavement and Teenage Fan Club.  Their
current tour in the U.S. (which had a date
recently at Great Woods) has them on the road
with Buffalo Tom and the Lemonheads.
They're pretty huge rock stars, says Kay
about her friends and the comment seems laced
with both admiration and sarcasm at the same
time.  Michael Eisentstein provides a reality
slap though, in the form of a review from Melody
Maker...

First the Gigolo Aunts take the stage and from the first note, I 
knew I hated them.  And if that wasn't bad enough, they're from 
Boston.

The English papers work a little
different, explains Dave giving a little
insight on how the scene works across the pond. 
They build you up really fast.  NME (New
Musical Express) and Melody Maker (the top two
music rags in London) are in direct competition
with each other.  At first they might both like
you but then they wait to see who makes the next
move.  NME put our single, Cope in their top 
10 singles of the year, so Melody Makers says,
NME loves em now, so it's our turn to dis em.
Kay adds, It's especially true if you
reek of major label bucks.  This is what killed
the band Eve's Plum over in England.  Their
first release over there was a major label
release and they got absolutely destroyed by the
press.  It happens a lot.  We think Indie
credibility is bad over here, it's a hundred
million times worse over there.  Our plan is to
re-release Aurora Gorey Alice on Cherry Disc
with Giant Records helping John Horton from
Cherry Disc work it.   It's gotta be released
Indie over there or you'll get demolished.
Discussion then leads to the merits of
Indie vs. Major.  The ultimate decision that
most musicians simultaneously dread and yet hope
to be confronted with.  Again, educating oneself
before making hasty decisions is all important. 
Letter To Cleo's recent signing to Giant Records
has indeed been the talk of the town, but the
kids didn't go into this blindly.

Stiffed - The Story of MCA- We read
this book on our last tour. Michael Eisenstein
begins as he picks up a copy of the book. 
Irving Asoff, the president of Giant Records, is
often the topic of this eye-opening tome of the
music industry's inside workings.  Michael,
paraphrasing from the book,  [Irving Asoff]
resigned from MCA after padding his pockets with
twice the amount MCA profited in the last six
years.  Irving left them and in the fall of 89
was given 50 million dollars by Time Warner to
start a new record label.  he called it, Giant
Records  There's a quote from him in the book,
Either I win, or I win.  Rock and Roll rules.

One would hope that Mr. Asoff will share
his successes with the artists that he takes
under his corporate wing, or as Ms. Hanley puts
it, I had coffee with Irving for 40 minutes
when I was in L.A.  He's so fucking awesome. 
He's gonna ruin our life.  I can't wait for him
to destroy me.

There is however a Yin and Yang situation
with being associated with a major.  Despite all
the headaches that may come along with being
product, there is a certain freedom that is
enviable.  In Dave Gibbs case, it is being able
to promote other underground bands through his
own local label, Summerville Records. We wear
T-shirts from different Boston bands and try to
plug them.  We try to spread the word as best we
can.  Someday all this will come back to us.  We
love it here.  I can honestly say, from being
all over the world, that Boston has the
healthiest music scene.

Conversation begins to ramble a little as
the kids begin to discuss Boston Rock champions,
current and past;   Smackmelon, Dambuilders,
Flying Nuns, Tacklebox, Helium, Pods, Rag iron,
Cave Dogs, Rain Dogs, Miranda Warning,
Dumptruck, and of course, Scruffy the Cat.
The one song I want to put out is, You
Dirty Rat, by Scruffy, if I ever get the chance
and money. As I sit here, writing and
listening to the song, I would have to say Kay
is absolutely right, so if Charlie Chesterman,
Scruffy's singer and Boston Music mainstay,
happen to be reading, give Ms. Hanley a call,
will ya?

Dave brings us out of our reverie by
explaining the importance of what these band
have done in respect to Letters and his own
band's recent successes.  We owe everything to
Big Dipper and the Cave Dogs. Kay continues, It's true. 
 All thesebands that came before us never
had the chance to really go anywhere.
Hopefully, someday Letters to Cleo and
the Gigolo Aunts won't be added to that list,
which also includes, Zulus, O-Positive, the
Joneses...

Even Tribe.  Remember when BCN first
broke bands like Dogzilla?  These bands were so
amazing and even Tribe just fell so flat.  They
made mistakes that were unprecedented.
Dave finishes the thought, We were both
so careful  when we were signing to the labels. 
We saw what happened to bands like Big Dipper,
Cave Dogs and Dumptruck (or to add a little Pit
Perspective; Bullet LaVolta - jb).  We were both
so picky when we signed our deals.
The apparent camaraderie between the two
bands is not just a result of recent signings
and success or  a coincidence.  They have been
following each other's progress and lending a
hand to each other for years now.  As Kay and
Dave were discussing the various pitfalls of
Boston bands in the past, Michael had been
rummaging around Kay's worthy record collection. 
He pulls out a Spanish bootleg of a Gigolo
Aunt's single.  I was a fan of these guys way
before a friend.  The first show I played with
Cleo was opening up for the Gigolo Aunts.  We
were the first band, you were the last.  You
were the best band on the bill.  I came to see
you guys again a few months later at the
Paradise.  It was right around the time, Bloom
(FNX beat the shit out of this song - jb) was
about to come out.  I went out and bought the
single at Tower!  About a year later I had met
you guys a few times and our paths had started
crossing a lot more.  We started talking and you
said, Give me a call, we'll hang and have a
beer.  I was all nervous.  It was like a girl
asking me out!

That's cuz Dave's a rock star, Kay says
while lighting quite possibly the hundredth
cigarette this group has smoked this evening.
Dave objects, There's not a bigger geek
in rock music I Boston than me.  And the sad
thing is, is that Letters are a band that used
to be able to open for us and now we'll be
begging them for opening slots.
The conversation begins to wander.  And as
soon as O.J. Simpson becomes the topic, I
concede that I've milked these bands for all I'm
gonna get.  I mange a few parting words out of
Dave.  If you tour and you stick it out and
have faith in your stuff, eventually it's gonna
catch on.

Kay completely disagrees.  I don't think
that's true.  Many great, great local bands
can't sell to save their lives...
And so the conversation resumed.  So
perhaps we haven't uncovered the secret to Pop
music but I'll leave it to the pros to figure
out.

Addendum:
The night wound down, Dave and Steve depart,
leaving Kay, Michael, Annette (my girlfriend)
and myself.  Kay points out the painting over
her fireplace.  My Dad worked in mental health. 
That painting was a gift to him form one of his
patients.  The patient was a murderer.
A few questions later and she and Michael
have pulled out their own personal library of
material on Mass Murderers, Serial killers and
their ilk.  Underground magazines, books,
photos.  More information on  the dark side of
man then you can shake an AK-47 at.  It seems
that Kay and Michael share a penchant for this
sort of thing.  Call it a hobby, but maybe just
maybe I have discovered the secret to all that
happy pop stuff...