944

The Lo-Fi, All Girl, Cock Sparrer's Tribute Band

Meet C*nt Sparrer, Long Beach's finest lo-fi, all-girl, Cock Sparrer cover band. After the YouTube videos they made on a whim unexpectedly earned them 1,000+ fans on Facebook, the girls decided to take their act from the Internet to venues across the West Coast. 944 speaks with the dynamic duo about their eyebrow-raising band name and what constitutes “punk." 

944: Jennie, you play guitar. Sara, you play the polychord selector. What is that exactly?

SARA LYONS: It’s basically a kid’s electric organ.

944: Where did you find it?

JENNIE COTTERILL: I found it at the swap meet, and I carried it all over the swap meet in my dress. It was filthy.

SL: It was full of spiders.

JC: It was a Trojan horse full of spiders. [Laughs.]

944: And Evan Sinclair is your drummer. I know he plays a shoebox and two books in your YouTube videos. What does he play on stage?

SL: He plays a suitcase and a snare drum and a tambourine.

944: Any plans to move a full drum kit onto the stage at some point?

JC and SL: [In unison.] No.

SL: [Laughs.] That’s too loud. He has the snare and it’s a real drum, but anything bigger than a snare is far too loud.

JC: But we got a washboard and a tambourine at the swap meet, and he’s using those.

SL: We’re always looking to incorporate more swap meet instruments into the band. Any kind of instruments that are meant for children, we’re open to. [Laughs.]

944: C*nt Sparrer is technically just you two, right?

SL: Evan is our drummer, but C*nt Sparrer is Jennie and I.

JC: We can’t officially put Evan on the payroll because he has a penis 

944: [Laughs.] That’s a great rule. What made you two decide to cover Cock Sparrer songs?

SL: Well, it was my idea to do Cock Sparrer songs, because I came up with the name C*nt Sparrer. I just thought it was too good of a name not to use, but I’ve also been really passionate about Cock Sparrer since high school. I introduced Jennie to their songs years ago, and she liked them. They’re great songs. They speak to a lot of people and they’re about relevant things. When you break them down to their bare elements, they’re just really perfect pop songs, and they translate to different mediums. It ended up working out.

JC: I’ve played punk rock with other people with amps and things like that, but I’m not really into playing electric guitar. I think punk rock translates really well acoustically. I wanted to do something with it, but I was sort of afraid that it wouldn’t be enough. It turns out it is. [Laughs.]

944: As far as the band name is concerned, I’ve noticed the c-word has lost its shock value in other areas of the world, but not here in the U.S. What are people’s reactions to the band name?

SL: My family hates it.

JC: Yeah, my mom begged me for a while to change the band name.

SL: I told my family that making your parents and aunts and uncles uncomfortable is part of what punk rock is all about.

JC: [Laughs.] Yeah.

SL: I’m speaking for myself here, but I think there’s too much stigma attached to words, and you know, it’s stupid to be offended by that word. We’re such a sweet and lighthearted band; it’s kind of funny.... Coming from a feminist standpoint, I don’t think there’s any progress to be made by being afraid of offending somebody. It’s real '90s and riot grrl, and I don’t want to say, “we’re reclaiming that word!” or whatever, but you know, I’m not offended by words…. Also, we know that the name Cock Sparrer has nothing to do with genitals, and our name is C*nt Sparrer is because we have a sense of humor, and not because we’re stupid. [Laughs.]

944: Cock Sparrer approved of you guys via Twitter. Have you heard any more from them?

SL: Not really. It’s more of a friend of a friend of a friend type thing at this point. We’re playing a show in Pomona with Gary Lammin, who was the guitarist for Cock Sparrer in the late 70's before Shock Troops came out. He wrote some of their classic songs. Cock Sparrer has seen our YouTube videos as far as we know, but we haven’t talked to them personally…. Basically, those are the only people we want approval from, so hopefully they like it.

JC: From what I’ve heard, they’re not super gung-ho about us, but we’re not trying to be disrespectful. We’re just having fun.

SL: We hope they understand that this is coming from a place of so much respect and love. They’re a band that has really defined so much of my life. Their music is really important to me, and I think it’s really important to a lot of people. I think that’s why we’ve been resonating with people, because it’s fun to hear something you love re-imagined. We just hope fans of Cock Sparrer or Cock Sparrer themselves hear us and understand we’re not trying to disrespect them…. There’s also been some discussion online and in real life about whether or not we're Cock Sparrer fans, and if what we’re doing is punk…. We don’t sound like traditional punk bands, but we’re coming from a background of being punks and growing up punk. Doing something from the grounds up and making due with what you have, to us, is punk…. We don’t want people judging us because we don’t have Mohawks or Chelsea cuts…. We just love Cock Sparrer's music and we like playing together. This is fun for us.

944: Well, other people are obviously having fun listening to you guys. Your Facebook page gained over 1,000 fans in 3 weeks.

SL: Yeah, the first week it was a trajectory of about 100 people per day.... There is some negative stuff about us out there on the Internet, but not nearly as much as I was expecting. People are pretty supportive.

JC: I think it’s funny that as an artist, and having tried to be a more serious musician... anything that I’ve put a concerted effort behind has just been so slow rolling. [Laughs.] No one cares, no one gives a shit, no one wants to hear about it or see it, but with this, people ask us to play now.

944: Do you think it might have something to do with the fact that you’re two babes playing classic punk rock?

SL: You can’t deny it. Not to sound like jerks, but obviously you can’t deny that that’s had a lot of appeal for people.

944: Do you worry about being classified as a novelty?

JC: [Laughs.] It is a novelty!

SL: [Laughs.] It is! We’re a tribute band, and I don’t think we have any illusions about the project. We’re just really lucky that anyone cares to listen to it…. None of us have rock star attitudes, and we all just know how ridiculous this is.

944: Are you guys excited to open for the US Bombs on June 17th at Slim's?

JC and SL: [In unison.] Super Excited!

944: I have one more question. Are we getting drunk after the show?

JC and SL: [In Unison.] Yes!

JC: I can’t believe you even had to ask that.

Have a beer with C*NT SPARRER at:

June 17 - Slim's (with U.S Bombs), San Francisco, CA  
June 18 - The Shire Road Club (with U.S. Bombs), Sacramento, CA  
June 19 - Stork Club, Oakland, CA  
July 6 - DiPiazza's, Long Beach, CA

Share

  Add to Faves