The Boston Phoenix

Staying power

Lizzie Borden keeps it in the Finch Family

by John O'Neill

Lizzie Borden is a walking, talking time capsule of  rock-and-roll history. Living in a small apartment above the now-legendary (then-shithole) rock restaurant Cantone's as a teenager, she'd witness firsthand the initial wave of the burgeoning punk movement. From the Real Kids and DMZ to Lou Miami, Borden was able to soak up the area's finest influences as well as outside forces like New York's Dead Boys, Patti Smith, The Ramones, Blondie, and Mink Deville. In the '80s, as a young teen, she played bass for Lizzie Borden and the Axes, a band who broke nationally with not one, but two major-label record deals that, while doing well commercially, resulted in tours of Russia, Japan, and, oddly enough, Aruba. After the demise of the Axes, Borden started Lava Beat, a band who won their share of awards, including the MTV Beach House Band Search and the V66 Video Music Awards.

As the '90s winded down, Borden returned to action with her newest (and finest) combo, the Finch Family, who make their Wormtown debut this Friday at Ralph's "KONG Fest" (Pothole and the Free Radicals also appear).

Founded by Borden and Kelly Johnson in 1995, the Finch Family are in their second incarnation, which in itself was nearly an accident.

"Kelly and I are original members," Borden explains. "We met through friends, and we both played bass, so I switched to guitar. We met Phil [guitarist Phil Suarez] through his dad, who knew Kelly. And [drummer] Neil Dike was a friend of Phil's." For those still with us, guitarist Pamela Ledbetter rounds out the outfit with Gregory Hogan.

If the Finch Family's road to gig-dom isn't exactly direct, they more than make up for that with their resultant output. Sporting wispy pop harmonies and a giant, three guitar wall of sound ("It really isn't sonics. We just had three guitarists, and no one wanted to give up playing guitar."), the group vacillate from Ramones-style power chord, pummeling to an even more ferocious "acid's-groovy-let's-kill-the-pigs"-type psychedelia. Popping a little, droning a little, tripping a little, the Finch Family take all the better aspects of the past 30 years of rock and bring them into alignment with modern-rock taste. Borden, the chief architect of the "Finchrock" sound, is by no means ready to slip into the easy-listening, world-weary acoustic strumming many of her contemporaries have gravitated toward. She claims the best is yet to come.

"I think we've outgrown our tape [1999's release, The Finch Family], we're much better now," she explains. "I'm not unhappy with the results, we're just more mature and have more of an edge."

After a listen through the seven numbers that constitute The Finch Family (Beverly/Raven Records), one is forced to wonder how much more of an edge a band could possibly deliver. From the opening Veruca Salt-meets-Lee Josephs's-LSD-flashback of "Desire" to the pop-metal rendition of Lulu's classic "To Sir with Love," the Finch Family walk a tight line between real and surreal, hard and soft, razor-sharp black and white ranting and fuzzy, Technicolor vomiting. When Borden chants the title chorus to "Outside," a tune devoted to the negative slant of the evening news, you can practically hear her catharsis splash against the back of the toilet bowl.

"Yeah, I wrote that after watching the news," she relates. "It was just non-stop. Don't go out because of the ozone layer, don't breath the air. Be cautious, there's this guy on the loose. After a few weeks of this terrible news, this song came up."

"Boston , New York and LA, have been very receptive to us, but it's harder to get into clubs," Borden says. "There aren't as many around. Who'd have thought the Rat would close? Now, it's mostly smaller clubs that are more supportive because they don't need to bring in the money that larger venues do. As long as CBGB's and The Whiskey are still around, things will be O.K."

This past winter Lizzie decided she wanted to do a solo CD. "I write all types of music and I wanted do do something new". She gathered up a group of her friends and the recorded ELIZABETH BORDEN - restless soul. This CD is a fantastic collection of songs Lizzie claims reflect her life of the past year. "We had a great time recording this CD. Just a group of us hanging out trying to stay warm. At the same time it was one of the saddest times of my life" Lizzie is referring to the death of her guitar player/ beloved friend, Phil Suarez. "He was my heart and soul. He was only able to play on a few songs, but he is there. He is all through it."

  "Things are better for women now," she relates when comparing today's music climate to punks heyday. "I've been there a few times and back. I have been up and down. My first time around  at the Go-Go's were the only other successful female band. We had makeover artists, and we were told how to dress and what to say and finally to change musical directions."

"When you're playing in a band it can be really hard, but it can be well worth it. You just need to figure out why you're playing and what you want out of it. Then just stick with it."