Like your punk fast, rude and very, very dirty? Behold Tucson’s The
Besmirchers.
Fronted by wild-man Lenny Mental—a familiar sight to anyone
who’s spent any time downtown in the last few years—The
Besmirchers are real players. Guitar player Damnation, bass player
Downtown Dave and drummer PBR Destroyer are as tight as a fist.
The Besmirchers’ flavor of punk rock is aggro, confrontational,
filthy and fun in the grand, martini-sipping,
smoking-jacket-and-cigarette-holder tradition of GG Allin, Dwarves and
The Mentors. Song titles? They start off with “Pussy and Smack,” work
their way through “One More Slut” and end with “March of the
Besmirchers,” stopping along the way for a take on “I Touch Myself,”
plus six other originals. Juicy samples from trashy movies kick off
several tracks—these Besmirchers have a great sense of the
absurd.
Lenny, of course, is one of the greatest lunatics ever to bash
himself bloody with a mic and carve himself up with a broken bottle on
stage. I’m sure they were heartbroken that they didn’t get invited to
play the Obama inauguration, but they are a lock to play with (and
probably blow away) every touring punk band to play Tucson for the next
few years. Enter at your own risk.
This article appears in Jun 4-10, 2009.