Knoxville Girls are readying In A Ripped Dress for release via Spain’s BANG! RECORDS on March 19th. Formed in the ’90s and comprised of the kind of formidable talent and pedigree that lands a band in the “supergroup” category, Knoxville Girls included Jerry Teel on vocals, guitar, harp (The Chrome Cranks, Honeymoon Killers, Boss Hog, Chicken Snake), Kid Congo Powers on vocals, guitar (The Gun Club, The Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Butcher Shop), Jack Martin on guitar (Five Dollar Priest), Barry London on organ, piano, and Bob Bert on drums (The Chrome Cranks, Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Lydia Lunch).
In A Ripped Dress was written and recorded at Jerry Teel’s famed New York studio, Funhouse. The group reportedly took a no-frills approach with many of the tracks serving as live demos for their In A Paper Suit album out on In the Red Records in 2000. Left in the vault for twenty years, the tracks, as well as a few outtakes from the band’s self-titled 1999 effort, also out on In the Red, were finally mixed last year by Teel at the Chicken Coop in New Orleans. Below, you can watch an archival clip of the Knoxville Girls live at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. With enough guitar firepower to hold off the authorities and backed by Bob Bert’s locomotive rhythmic drive, the group combines a swampy brand of snake-charmed Blues with plenty of NYC No-Wave attitude.
