The Richmond Sluts

A “two-fer” this month!  Quite by accident, my CD’s by THE RICHMOND SLUTS and BIG MIDNIGHT wound up side by side (they still are in fact).  I already had cleaned up the Richmond Sluts LP from the Katrina mud and had played it several times, though I didn’t know who the band was right away since there was only a photo on the label.  I was playing some CD’s one day in my three-disc CD changer (part of my turntable system actually), and I was struck almost immediately by how similar the lead singers were on the two CD’s.  They each had a similar up-note at the end of a line – Californians often talk as though each sentence is a question, and this was like singing in that way.  I checked the CD’s and found that the lead singer and primary songwriter – Shea Roberts – was the same in both bands.  Bassist Chris Beltran is in both bands as well; he is credited as Chris B in the Richmond Sluts.  That made me consider other situations where bands change names, or where a band changes dramatically using the same or a similar name.  

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Wikipedia has a brief mention of the Richmond Sluts in the article on their drummer Brad Artley, who also performed from 1995 to 1996 with a fairly prominent neo-psychedelic outfit called the Brian Jonestown Massacre.  BJM has 14 albums listed in Allmusic, though Artley did not perform on any of them.  Brad Artley is also featured in a documentary on the Brian Jonestown Massacre and another band, the Dandy Warhols called DiG!.  (The former band name is a portmanteau of Brian Jones, a founding member of the Rolling Stones with Jonestown Massacre, the notorious mass suicide of the flock of Rev. Jim Jones in their compound in Guyana after assassinating Congressman Leo Ryan – the phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid” arose from what happened there – while the latter band name is a takeoff on the name of artist Andy Warhol).  That gives you some idea of what does get into Wikipedia and what does not. 

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As of the first week of 2014, the Richmond Sluts have a Facebook page – www.facebook.com/richmondsluts – and considerable information about the band can be found there, such as their self-description:  “Hailing from the Richmond District of San Francisco, the Richmond Sluts are a revved up rock ’n’ roll band that is timeless. With influences from garage, punk, psych, and rock ’n’ roll, the Richmond Sluts are guaranteed to make you move, sweat, dance, and leave you begging for more. . . .” 

The Richmond Sluts were founded by Chris B (Chris Beltran, on bass guitar) and Shea Roberts (guitar and vocals) in 1998; they shared similar tastes in music, such as the Clash, the Rolling Stones, New York Dolls, and the Stooges.  After adding Justin Lynn (keyboards), the Richmond Sluts developed a distinctive sound and began performing with the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.  Their first release came out in 1998 – a 7-inch single that is the sole release by Wicks World Records – “Rock-n-Roll Fantasy” b/w “Paddy Wagon”; the latter song is included on their album.  

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Their sole album, The Richmond Sluts – released in both vinyl and CD – came out in 2001 on Disaster Records; the musicians for the album included Brad Artley (drums), whom they probably met while performing with the Brian Jonestown Massacre.  Their music is an amalgam of garage rock and straight-up rock with more than a dash of sleaze, and the music varies considerably over the course of the album; the keyboards fit in nicely with their punk-psychedelic persona.  The album cover is pretty cool:  a woman in reflective sunglasses with the bandmembers shown in the two lenses.  Highlights of the Richmond Sluts album include the back-to-back cuts toward the middle of the record, “Sad City” and “Contagious”, plus “City Girls” and “Thought I Was Dead”; but it’s all good. 

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Allmusic gives The Richmond Sluts 4 stars and says of the Richmond Sluts that “they explored the glam-slam-thank-you-ma’am side of punk”.  Jo-Ann Greene comments about their inventiveness on the album in ways that are a little beyond my capacity to figure out:  “Since categorization is a necessity in this age of overspecification, punk rock will do nicely, but doesn’t begin to encompass just how cleverly the group churns other genres through its blender.  The Sluts connect the dots between ’60s garage punk and old school ’70s style, then toss just a dash of new school into the mix.  Variations on this recipe reverberate across the album, and answer a slew of niggling questions along the way.  Ever wonder what the [New York] Dolls would sound like covered by a psychedelic band?  Kept up at night trying to imagine a cross between the Cramps and the Velvet Underground?  Curious what the result would be if a time warp sent Richard Hell circa 1978 a decade into the past?  And what if Eddie & the Hotrods were really the Ramones with English accents?  The Richmond Sluts answer all these brain teasers and more you’ve yet to even imagine, and they do it without an ounce of pretentiousness or braggadocio.” 

In 2002, the Richmond Sluts released a single on white vinyl on Disaster Records, “Sweet Something” backed with a 2002 recording of “Sad City”.  No other music has been released on CD or vinyl since that time. 

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Big Midnight is advertised on the Bomp! mailorder site as “former Richmond Sluts”, but I don’t remember it that way when I first ordered the album some years back.  Now that the Richmond Sluts have reformed, that might be the best way to relate to this band.  Still, this band has its own identity, exploring their more mature sound in varied ways rather than trying to mine all of their influences directly.  Even Shea Roberts’ lead vocals are sung in a lower register.   

The band was formed in 2002 by Shea Roberts (guitar, vocals, keyboards, percussion) and Chris Beltran (bass, harmonica, keyboards) of the Richmond Sluts, plus KC Kozak (drums, backing vocals), Elisha Drons (guitar), and Lydia Walker (backing vocals).  Jimmy Willets plays guitar on one track.  (The Richmond Sluts also have some uncredited female background vocals). 

“All the Dreams"”, “Love for Sin” and “Spent Too Much” are slower, almost pensive numbers that are unlike anything on The Richmond Sluts; and “(You) Treat Me Too Bad” is another terrific number.  As with the Richmond Sluts album though, every song is well crafted and well performed. 

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The Richmond Sluts have reunited; besides the core members Shea Roberts, Chris Beltran and Justin Lynn, the band has added Jesse Nichols (guitar) and John Tyree (drums).  While they have not recorded a new album yet, the band has a cool logo – fashioned from a thick tongue like their heroes the Rolling Stones – and a T-shirt that features the tag line, Born to Boogie.  The Richmond Sluts have embarked on their first European tour this year. 

(June 2014)

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Items:    The Richmond Sluts