Boy's girl

Paula Kelley reveals her inner pop child

by Brett Milano

Paula Kelley has a confession to make: she used to have a crush on one of the Bee Gees. "I always was a total pop girl, but I've been afraid to admit it," she notes. "In third grade my favorites were the Beatles and the Bee Gees. But it was right at the end of the `disco sucks' era, so I had to tell everyone I hated the Bee Gees. Then I'd go home and apologize to the album cover, because I was in love with Robin Gibb."

That's as good a metaphor as any for Kelley's musical development over the years. She did her time with alternative rock four years ago when she played in Drop Nineteens, a BU-spawned band who were loved in England because they sounded like My Bloody Valentine -- and hated in Boston because they were loved in England. Dour, non-pop, and badly dressed, they were pretty much the opposite of what Kelley's doing now. With her current band, Boy Wonder, she shows her true colors, and they're bright and flashy.

The sound of Wonder Wear (out this week on CherryDisc) is so relentlessly poppy that it would be bubblegum if not for the flashes of nastiness in the lyrics (Kelley writes a lot of "You broke my heart and I'm getting even" songs, of which "Mission To Destroy" is the best) and a few left turns in the arrangements. There's an appealing giddiness to her style, but it's a little less cute and more dark-edged than it first appears. She's also outgrowing her vocal resemblance to Juliana Hatfield, though a few songs on the new album do suggest Fuzzy, thanks in part to a similarly bright production job by Tim O'Heir. And she's found a capable songwriting match in co-singer/guitarist Jake Zavracky, whose four songs are more overtly '60s-ish than Kelley's (his best contribution, "Liar Baby," has an intro that crosses "Get Off My Cloud" with "My Sharona"). It's surprising, however, that the two singers don't collaborate or harmonize more often -- definitely something they should work on in the future.

When we meet at the Middle East, Kelley is dressed in her familiar '30s vamp style ("I used to have hippie hair and wear bandanas, and it just wasn't fun") and ready to discuss her musical goals. "I want to write songs for Mariah Carey," she claims without irony. "I think about the early '60s, when you had singers and songwriters, that Brill Building era. It didn't seem that any shitty songs surfaced back then. Maybe some of the words were trite, but a Bacharach chord change or a Carole King song -- those are the ones that give you shivers. Not that every one of my songs is a masterpiece, but that's what I aspire to. And I have to hone it and pay attention to what I do. Believe me, my trashcans are full of songs that didn't make it." Her current direction began appearing in her post-Drop Nineteens group, Hot Rod. "My song sensor is a little more active now, though. God, if I haven't improved in four years, I better give it up."

She has some bad memories of Hot Rod, especially in the later period, after guitarist John Dragonetti left to form Jack Drag. Hot Rod's one album, Speed Danger Death (now appearing in a cutout bin near you), wasn't bad, but Caroline released it about a month before it released the reshuffled Drop Nineteens' second album; both wound up sinking. Kelley even moved to England for a time in hopes of drawing on Drop Nineteens' following for a record deal; she wound up waiting on tables and not playing a single gig. So in '95 she returned to Boston, finished her BU degree in history, and got her life and Boy Wonder together. "Nothing against England, but it made me appreciate this country; I prefer the assholes at home to the assholes over there." She pauses, suddenly upset at something. "Just that I promised my father I wouldn't swear in this interview. But at least I haven't said `fuck' yet."

Boy Wonder will celebrate the release of Wonder Wear with a show at T.T. the Bear's Place (492-BEAR) on Saturday October 11.

AMERICAN MEASLES

The American Measles' debut album, Shover the Cupcake (Aquabug), includes the nastiest song in some time about radio -- specifically about the self-important types you can find working at alternative-rock stations. On "The X," singer/guitarist Julie Chadwick rakes one of those folks over the coals: "Take your snotty ass out of my face/I hate radio losers complaining about making it big/Are you really punk rock, mister indie cock, does it frighten you?/I'll tell you I'm sick of Oasis just as much as you."

The irony is that the American Measles work for one of those very stations; Chadwick, bassist Adrian Healey, and drummer Mike Gioscia are members of the WFNX airstaff. So it's no surprise that Chadwick, who hosts Boston Rocks on Sundays, is a little elusive when asked what inspired that song. "I like to think that they [radio and the band] are two totally separate things. Just because we're part of it doesn't mean we can't do a song like that, but I don't think it's particularly nasty. It's definitely pissed off, but I like to think it's funny, too. It's about people who talk through their butts when they should be playing music."

And if people feel cynical about a DJ's writing such a song? "Let 'em, and don't listen if they don't like it. I'm a musician first and foremost; I believe in the station and I believe in the band, but I've wanted to do music way longer than I've been doing radio."

Chadwick and the band write loud, willfully quirky songs with a noticeable Minty Fresh flavor. They jump at will from angry to joky, though you can't always tell which is which. Chadwick swears that "God Stole My Bike" is a true story, that God called her to take credit after said bicycle disappeared. The band have a disc-release party at T.T. the Bear's Place this Friday with the Doosies and Underball, plus special guest Rivers Cuomo of Weezer. Cuomo is expected to perform with a new, locally based back-up band.

CLUB HOPPING

The Dickies' appearance at the Middle East last Thursday had all the makings of a really depressing night. The LA punk-pop outfit, who were the West Coast's answer to the Buzzcocks long before Green Day were, had drawn barely 100 people to the Middle East for their 20th-anniversary show. Worse, singer Leonard Graves Phillips paused after nearly every song to assure the fans that he's really, really old ("Get over it!" someone finally shouted). But they didn't play like old guys, and the band's mix of good hooks and stoopid humor otherwise held up; classics like "Stuck in a Pagoda with Tricia Toyota" and "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)" were worth another go-round. As usual, they reached their conceptual peak on "If Stuart Could Talk," in which Phillips holds a conversation with his dick (which complains about the company he keeps). Expect a new album next year on NOFX's new label.

Earlier that night I caught the first of two Jen Trynin album-release parties, this one at Bill's Bar, where she made a gutsy move by opening her high-profile, label-attended set with a slow song, "Everything." It's one of the best songs on Gun Shy Trigger Happy, and it introduced a simmering tension that was maintained for much of the set. Playing with a mostly new band (drummer Chris Foley was sidelined by a recent motorcycle accident), she took a more ebb-and-flow approach than in her old power-trio days. A second guitarist allowed her to flex her voice more on the slow numbers, and she could still sling some nasty guitar on the fast ones.

Over at T.T.'s the same night, Serum provided a natural bridge to the Dickies' set by covering another '77 classic, Richard Hell's "Love Comes in Spurts," which fit the obsessive tone of their own material. Chelsea on Fire's headline set offered a visual surprise -- singer/guitarist Josey Packard and bassist Amy have both let their buzzcuts grow out -- but the band's rockin' snarl was otherwise intact.

COMING UP

Local country hero John Lincoln Wright is turning 50; he celebrates tonight (Thursday) at Johnny D's. Also tonight, Verago-go and the Weaklings at T.T.'s, and Skeleton Key and Shiva Speedway at the Middle East . . . Tomorrow (Friday), it's Brit-pop godfather Paul Weller at Avalon, Michelle Willson at the House of Blues, Milkshake at the Kendall Café, and Helium (who've just added ex-Juicy guitarist Kendall Meade on keyboards) playing the release gig for the terrific Magic City album at the Middle East . . . Get an "Eight Piece Box" from Southern Culture on the Skids at the Middle East on Saturday, or a nostalgia fix from the Power Station at Avalon, a "B-Train" ride with the Allstonians at T.T.'s, or some good songwriting from Asa Brebner and Mark Cutler at the Lizard Lounge . . . Sam Black Church play the Middle East Sunday . . . Tuesday brings Hamell on Trial to the Paradise, but for God's sake leave before Moxy Fruvous . . . Legendary '60s radical and MC5 manager, current New Orleans bandleader/DJ, and occasional Phoenix contributor John Sinclair plays Johnny D's on Wednesday, which is the same night punkers the Mr. T. Experience rock the Middle East.