Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black

  • Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black
  • A National Health Care (Beautiful) 1993  (Go-Kart) 1996 
  • The Anti-Naturalists (Triple X) 1995 
  • Black Date (Cleopatra) 1998 

As New York’s leading lurid theatrical club attraction since GG Allin flung his final feces, the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black earned its reputation for the orificial paint egg-speriments performed on the blue-hued body of head-standing singer Kembra Pfahler. On record, however, the quartet sounds a lot like the Runaways auditioning an especially tuneless vocalist. While the musicians crank up an adequately anachronistic glop of chunky ’70s punk sludge on The Anti-Naturalists, Pfahler concocts mildly amusing shock-buzzer lyrics like “Water Coffin,” “Honky Tonk Biscuit Queen,” “Gotta Get My Eyes Done” and “Sick Bed.” Her clumsy, flat singing is the only real horror here. The debut contains such equally inspired inventions as “You Slay Me” and “One Man Lady.”

[Ira Robbins]