Sunday, October 21, 2012

Wayne County & The Electric Chairs
"Cry of Angels"

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Cry of Angels - Storm the Gates of Heaven

I have to admit knowing not a lot about Wayne County, other than he was an early fixture on the New York proto-punk/punk scene. All I'd heard until recently was a few fairly raunchy but musically bland songs on compilations. I knew he was originally from Georgia, where I now reside, and that he'd moved to New York at some point, obviously.

A few months ago, though, I came across a used copy of this LP from 1978 that I'd never seen before, and decided to give it a chance. It turned out to be a pretty darn good punk album, and today's song is my favorite from it.

When Storm the Gates of Heaven was recorded, Wayne performed in outrageous drag. At some point, though, Wayne transitioned and became Jayne County, the first (only?) trans woman punk rock star. She still performs and records to this day. In fact, a review of a recent show here in Atlanta was what prompted me to give this album a shot. Well, that and seeing interview clips over the years with Jayne that were usually pretty hilarious.

1 biased opinion:

Biki Honko said...

I like the music, the band is kick ass, but the lead singer, is just flat, but not in a great punk way, more of a grating sorta kinda way. Its not raw enough for me, it seems as though its attempting to straddle the line between punk and 80's lame-o