Ballroom Zombies - March/April 1997
Style: gender-bending glitter pop
Lineup: Robin Black (vocals, harmonica); Brad Garinger (guitars, backing vocals); Charles Garinger (bass, backing vocals); Marky (drums)
Contact: Cult of the Ballroom Zombies, 112 Stockdale St., Winnipeg, MB R3R 2G6. Contact Shelley Breslaw @ (204) 453-0015, FAX (204) 284-1190,
It’s strange just listening to the Ballroom Zombies, without taking in the whole artistic expression of the live show the shiny latex, the feather boas, pancake make- up. No, on the CD EP JoJo, with no danger of getting lipstick on your collar, the Winnipeg glitter-pop band has only the songs. It’s like waking up in the morning sans make-up and facing your new lover. Oooh, scarrry. So what are these strutting look-at-me glam boys like in an Adam & Eve state, when they’re not “cumbered up in hosery (sic)”? First off, JoJo sounds pretty fresh and raw considering the six songs were recorded on an eight-track.
Produced and engineered by Marty Kinac and Damon Hill, the songs actually benefit from a live-off-the-floor, less than perfect recording. Because there’s a highly melodic quotient to songs like “I Know”, “Impotent Fantasies” and the single/video “Twiddle Bug”, there’s a danger that the pout and punk could have been wiped out in a bigger studio turning the Ballroom Zombies into. . . yeek, a pop band! Shudder at the thought.