Grabbed by the Short ‘n’ Curlys

The Short ‘n’ Curlys are musical misfits who care little about portraying any image, except the image that they don’t care at all. But their music and lyrics, rooted firmly in the punk rock aesthetic, suffer little from this charade. With song titles like “Soccer Mom,” “Porno the Clown” and “Prison Finger,” the Short ‘n’ Curlys may be on to something more than enraged anarchy, though the mosh pits they inspire with taunts and teases to the crowd are quite entertaining as well.

The band members—singer Donny Clow, guitarist Sean Farrell, bassist Erin Baker and drummer Paul Howell—met at Hoss Hogg’s in South Lake Tahoe, South Shore’s mecca for punk rock, mosh pits and drunken brawls. “Where My Car Sleeps” is a song about leaving their cars at Hoss Hogg’s in the wake of drunken escapades, but in no way does this negatively impact their performances.

“Hoss Hogg’s is where we all met,” Baker said. “That is the common link here. All of us tend to leave our cars there a couple times a week.”

When asked questions that might reward readers with insight into the band’s creative process, they failed miserably, much like the student who fails for not showing up for the test. Instead, they chose to play the part of apathetic stoners, lost in a world of snowboarding and partying.

Conversations with the band follow a train of thought that is incomprehensible to anybody, except maybe the band members themselves. When asked what they are trying to accomplish, they finished each other’s thoughts with the same precision a child might use while finger painting.

“We’re just following in the footsteps of Spinal Tap,” Baker said.

“Without the herpes,” Clow added.

“But our guitars only go to 10,” Farrell said.

They profess that their motivation for playing music is “sex, strippers and limousine rides.”

“The first time we have a show and I don’t get laid, I quit,” Clow said.

The Short ‘n’ Curlys are currently working on an untitled four-song demo. Clow said the band needs to be relaxed during the recording.

“Perfection is important, but we just need to be ourselves,” he said.

Being themselves is what the Short ‘n’ Curlys do best. Just listen to Clow’s inspiration for “Soccer Mom":

“I had an experience with an experienced lady who had kids, and for some reason, the idea of her strolling around wearing the Calvin Klein outfit, looking good, picking up kids at soccer practice, making brownies, just turns me on.”

The band, formed last fall, is starting to get recognition outside of Hoss Hogg’s with shows at the South Lake Tahoe Elk’s Club and Tahoe Taps in Truckee. The band also opened for Guttermouth at the Little Waldorf Saloon in Reno.

While the band is nonchalant about self-promotion, its members speak proudly of the South Shore’s music scene.

“It’s a definite mountain melting pot, and everybody unites here in the snow, because they are here to snowboard and ski," Baker said. "But they also bring their genre of music from their town to Tahoe."