People are talking...talking shit! (full text below):

"Radical stances on Judaism can't compensate for shitty tunes. "

"...if sperm and eggs did not meet and merge, not only would there be no Zionism, there'd be no transgendered rock bands, no Village Voice, and no one to scramble all that tofu."

"[The Shondes] boycotted the show because they found the depiction of Indians offensive. So in my opinion, they're a shitty retarded band. "

"There was just too much Jew-ness. It was like, 'Yeah we get it....you're Jewish.' ...Finally at 1:45 AM, Amy Ray finally graced us with her presence. And it was worth all the hell we went through."

READ MORE!

Rebels without a chord

Letter to the editor of The Village Voice

June 14, 2006

Re Marisa Torrieri's "Shame on You" [Band on the Street, June 14–20]: The Shondes are poseurs. I and almost everyone I know went to school with them and had to endure their ramblings of how progressive and radical they were. They are blatant and sad Kathleen Hanna and Bikini Kill wannabes. What they don't understand is that their radical politics don't make their music better. Radical stances on Judaism can't compensate for shitty tunes. They are just a bunch of self-important politicos, as evidenced by Solomon and the fact that she positions herself as the "authority of radical politics" in every aspect of her life, including her shitty three-quarters-trans band. And hey, had they not been three-quarters-trans and Jewish, would the Voice really have profiled them based on musical merit alone? Here's to using your trans culture as gimmick.

Graeme Kennedy
Manhattan

Scrambled Tofu

From whatwouldphoebedo.blogspot.com

June 14, 2006

The Village Voice profiles a band called The Shondes, "a three-quarters transgender, three-quarters Jewish, 100-percent-political Park Slope quartet." I was intrigued...because this group is clearly a parody of itself, whether it's aware of it or not. From the Voice:

"I think we all have a lot of frustration about hipster Jewish culture," [band member Louisa] Solomon says during a discussion heavy on politics, music, and appropriate transgender pronouns (Brannigan is "she,"Oberman is "he," and Fruchter won't commit to either) over coffee and scrambled tofu at an East Village vegetarian diner. "There's an assumption in those communities that it's pretty liberal and progressive. But in fact, especially in the hipster culture of Matisyahu, the politics underlying them are in fact funded by Jewish institutions that are really Zionist and wedded to an ideology of Jewish nationalism and Jewish heterosexuality and procreation and all this stuff we really hate."

I'm going to have to step up to the plate and defend Zionism, Jewish nationalism, and Jewish heterosexuality, all things I find quite wonderful. Not sure what Solomon means by "Jewish heterosexuality," now that I think of it, but I'll assume she means being Jewish and into the opposite sex. Guilty as charged. But I don't "hate" Jewish homosexuality--"Yossi and Jagger," the most beautiful movie ever made, would never have come into being without it. Seriously, people, don't hate.

But what about Zionism or Jewish nationalism does this band have a problem with? Granted neither is especially hip. "Hipster Judaism," which they rightly denounce as lame, is also not hip, but is rather an invention of various Jewish institutions--yes, the same ones that have the politics so despised by The Shondes--to keep younger Jews involved, and as such is no cooler than Christian indie rock or "Seventh Heaven."

Breaking away from pieties and embracing self-hatred always guarantees Jewish artists a certain audience. Ironic love of the shtetl and the nebbish, while wearing a keffiyeh, is hip; wear an IDF shirt and you might as well announce that you are boring, suburban, and psyched about the next Dave Matthews Band concert. But is it any more interesting to follow a hipster party line than a suburban one? It's certainly no more progressive. To "really hate" Jewish nationalism is no less idiotic than really hating Palestinian nationalism. Declaring one's hatred for one side or the other does nothing to help find a peace-oriented solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although perhaps, progressive as they are, this is not The Shondes's wish.

As for procreation, that seems an odd thing to "really hate"-- it's one thing not to wish to be involved in any personally, but if sperm and eggs did not meet and merge, not only would there be no Zionism, there'd be no transgendered rock bands, no Village Voice, and no one to scramble all that tofu.

Show Review

From 742evergreenterrace.blogspot.com

July 21, 2006

(Band 4) The Shondes - This band came out from New York and then entered the prospector and saw pictures with Indians and boycotted the show because they found the depiction of Indians offensive. So in my opinion, they're a shitty retarded band. Please... nevermind the abuse of alcohol and lust and hooking up and loose morals floating around in the bar before your eyes... that's okay... but pictures of Indians... horrible!!!!!

HOMOANONO

from crazycatdoglady.blogspot.com

August 5, 2006

...We figured we would rush the stage for Amy [Ray] when she came on. We knew we would have to sit through several other "acts" before we got to Amy. What we didn't know was that we would be slowly descending through several levels of hell until our lord and savior, Amy Fucking Ray, came and save us...

Let's run throught the circus *ahem* musical acts and spoken word that we had to sit through...SOBER, I might add.

First off there was Shawna Virago....a guitar playing angry transexual who played songs like, "Transexual Dominatrix" and "Tranimal". Shawna also had some rather strong opinions on Michigan Womyn's Festival...

Then there was THRIVE! Two volumptuous black women and a skinny little white girl doing little skits about how much they hate corporate America, George W. Bush, capitalism, communism, healthcare....basically everything government related...

Next was...well, we are not sure. We never got her name but she did a spoken word behind a white sheet about how once upon a time someone called her a fatass and it wounded her for life and now the only way her body feels free is when she tribal dances....BADLY...whilst wearing more spandex than any overweight person should wear and a fishnet top.

Then we had Swan Island. After all we had just seen, we were like, "These guys aren't bad" but really they were. Everyone loves a garage band. In the garage. After school and a joint has been passed around.

I thought that the next act, Katz from The Athens Boys Choir was going to be a breath of fresh air. I had heard good things but never experienced him for myself. But dammit if spoken word is not the death of me. It makes my inner core harden, shrivel and die....everytime I have to sit through spoken word, a little peice of my soul dies. And God kills a kitten. Many kittens died on Wednesday night.

Next some angels of mercy tried to save us. We saw the light and we grabbed onto the rope. They tried to pull us from the depths of hell....but it was too late. We were slipping deep into an abyss that only the woman...."THE LEGEND" Amy Ray could save us from.

Next was the Jewish Tranny band, The Shondes. You see, we learned a lot about Jewish-ness on Wednesday night. We learned that the term Shonde means disgrace. You see The Shondes were a group of three trannies and their outspoken theater-y straight girl friend in the form of a punk band. They had an interesting idea musically incoorporating a fiddle into their music making them sound rather yiddish which I enjoyed. But their lyrics where incoherent and they all sang over each other badly and there was just too much Jew-ness. It was like, "Yeah we get it....you're Jewish." ...

Finally at 1:45 AM, Amy Ray finally graced us with her presence. And it was worth all the hell we went through. Amy Ray is a fucking rockstar and everytime I forget how amazing she is live, I am able to see her and feel the energy and the strength in her performance. I heard the best "Laramie" I have ever heard. I was a bit embarassed and appalled to hear people yelling out, "Shame on You" and "Closer to Fine". Amy shrugged it off and laughed but you have to think that it bothers her a bit. It would bug the shit out of me. It does bug me as a fan....

In the end though, Amy Ray saved the day, as she always does.....she saved us from a slow burning death in the levels of hell we now refer to as "Homo A No No".