Teenage Sex and Boner
“The Kid” and Bridget Machine of Tall Cans and Teenage Sex’s Saturday night at Kilkennny’s. Photo by Ed Solte
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Tall Cans and Teenage Sex, Boner Machine, WorkHorse and Smart Patrol put on a killer show Saturday night at Kilkenny’s on the Redondo Beach pier. No Budget Productions and Swell.com pulled the show together.
Tall Cans and Teenage Sex is a Torrance-based trio founded by lead guitarist and vocalist Ian “the Kid” and bassist and supporting vocalist Davis Larey Ellinwood. Saturday was the first performance of their second band Boner Machine.
The two got together a few years ago thanks to their mutual distain for contemporary music.
“No one was playing real good punk anymore,” said Ellinwood.
“It was just a bunch of real shitty, slow metal, mix-tape hip hop, screaming emo kids, and pop punk,” the Kid continued.
The group’s sound, ethical values, and aesthetic reflects the music the two grew up on in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
“Circle Jerks, Black Flag, SST records and South Bay hard core really get us hard,” the Kid said. “Nip Drivers, Redd Cross, Prince, The Minute Men, The Student Gropers and The Screamers, pump us up.”
“There really hasn’t been a good band since Cigar,” said Ellinwood.
Music played real fast “gets you hard and bums out your girlfriend” is what inspired Tall Cans and Teenage Sex.
With songs like “Tranny Suprise,” “F… your life Monday through Sunday, “Stay High in Wartime” and “Pharmaceutical Youth,” a song inspired by a former roommate of The Kid’s who secretly abused pills prescribed by his psychologist, Tall Cans and Teenage Sex lyrical content follows the theme of its explicit name.
“We don’t really care about signing a record,” said The Kid. “That’s one of the reasons we purposely picked an unmarketable name that promoters might have difficulties stamping on fliers and posters.”
Most of the time, promoters referred to them only as Tall Cans.
“Our best shows are the ones when we go by the full name,” Ellinwood laughed.
Tall Cans and Teenage Sex is, as the Kid states, “a product of our environment.” The southern section of Torrance, where, as Ellinwood says, “The Strand ends,” is as influential in their music as a power chord.
“Right now, there’s a class war being fought on the beaches of Torrance,” The Kid said. “It is and always has been Torrance vs. PVers, (also the name of a popular blog site that is closely associated with the band).”
The two recall in their youth a more volatile common relationship with the neighboring community.
“I remember all the older dudes like the Coffeys getting into scraps all the time right by the old Alfreds,” The Kid recalls. “That place is even looking all PVer’ed out now.”
People of Palos Verdes in the age bracket of The Kids and Ellinwood tend to favor the groups that fall under the category of “jam bands,” the polar opposite of what Tall Cans and Teenage Sex stand for. One of their more popular songs, “All PVers Must Die,” addresses this phenomenon and is usually one of their most requested songs.
Although Torrance is their respected hometown, the duo took their “shithead” act up to Cen Cal a couple of years ago after college. It’s where they met drummer Scott Bronson, and perfected their live shows.
“The 805 is a lot different than the South Bay music scene.” The Kid said. “It’s a more core group of fans who are mostly there for the music.”
Ellinwood points out the Cen Cal scene stretches from Lompoc to Atascadero and fans have to travel longer distances for shows.
“There are people at shows for the music in the South Bay,” said the Kid, “but then you got people there just to get wasted, some little girls in tight dresses, 21st birthday party, and some randoms.”
In the second part of their act, Tall Cans and Teenage Sex came out as Boner Machine. It is, Kid puts it, “bursting through, and making you come all the time.”
Boner Machine started out as a jam between local musicians in San Luis Obispo when Bridget Machine, a drop dead gorgeous local vocalist, jumped on stage and the musical chemistry went off the Richter.
“The switch to the machine was turned on,” Kid said. “Once it was turned on, it can never be turned off.”
In the form of Boner Machine, the band members take different instruments depending on the song. The group’s identity shape shifts. The Kid becomes Steven Newton, sporting a wig, a painter’s hat, short rainbow-stitched OPs, and shares bassist and lead singer duties with Bridget Machine. Ellinwood becomes an old man, wearing gold plaid pants, a fisherman’s hat, and a grey wig. Bronson magically grows a blond mane.
In the first few songs like “Tiger,” all attention is on the stiletto heeled Bridget Machine as she swings the mic stand around and makes gestures that hormonally engage the audience. Her musical talent is evident when the Kid takes over lead singer duties and she becomes the bassist. After a few songs, the Kid rips off all his facial and head attire and dons pantyhose over his head in a rendition of “The Man With the Dildo on his Head.” Bopping around in an Iggy Pop speed run, the Kid takes advantage of the entire stage. Even though it’s hard to keep your eyes off the beautiful Bridget Machine, the Kid’s energy takes over.
“Boner Machine is what we liked to call ‘F… Rock,’” Ellinwood said. “It’s an intense jubilee.”
“It’s what you use to slowly seduce your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, neighbor, co-worker, “said The Kid.
Check them out on Facebook and Myspace or the No Budget Productions website. ER