The Gay Blades

http://www.advocateinsider.com/2007/03/index.html
Let me just say this was the best show of the week. These random guys from New Jersey, who later told me this was the furthest west they had ever played, took a tiny stage and maybe 40 people (most of whom were clearly friends of theirs) and turned it into a Queen concert. I was unsure of the lead singer's sexuality, but he was clearly flamboyant and talking like a cast member of High School Musical. First of all he was hot, sweaty, sexual, wildly charismatic. He played the guitar behind his microphone covered in fake roses while the drummer, who could have been a frat boy from USC, played drums and sang back up.
He would yell out things like, "sometimes weird stuff just happens between dudes," and croon lovingly to his male fans. But the gig was up when he announced that one of his songs was written about his girlfriend's sex change operation, at which point everyone in the know looked behind me to the blonde girl laughing against the wall. I went to meet him afterward and he immediately fell out of character, and though I didn't have time to ask him why this was his act, it seemed interesting to me that a completely unknown band would use, as it's hook, the possibility that they were gay. Not in the David Bowie approach, makeup and high heels and all the cliches, but masculine gay men, with just a hint of possibility. Regardless their songs are solid if ridiculous, and their presence on stage is the stuff of stardom. - The Advocate Insider

http://www.advocateinsider.com/2007/03/index.html
Let me just say this was the best show of the week. These random guys from New Jersey, who later told me this was the furthest west they had ever played, took a tiny stage and maybe 40 people (most of whom were clearly friends of theirs) and turned it into a Queen concert. I was unsure of the lead singer's sexuality, but he was clearly flamboyant and talking like a cast member of High School Musical. First of all he was hot, sweaty, sexual, wildly charismatic. He played the guitar behind his microphone covered in fake roses while the drummer, who could have been a frat boy from USC, played drums and sang back up.
He would yell out things like, "sometimes weird stuff just happens between dudes," and croon lovingly to his male fans. But the gig was up when he announced that one of his songs was written about his girlfriend's sex change operation, at which point everyone in the know looked behind me to the blonde girl laughing against the wall. I went to meet him afterward and he immediately fell out of character, and though I didn't have time to ask him why this was his act, it seemed interesting to me that a completely unknown band would use, as it's hook, the possibility that they were gay. Not in the David Bowie approach, makeup and high heels and all the cliches, but masculine gay men, with just a hint of possibility. Regardless their songs are solid if ridiculous, and their presence on stage is the stuff of stardom. - The Advocate Insider

It's hard to mix brawn with sass - it's sort of like that old thing about oil and water. But there is a band sauntering around the LES that knows how to emulsify these oft-opposing forces a into zesty rock sauce, and they are The Gay Blades. This burly duo's blend of anxious spazz pop is accosting but sweet; it boldly confronts you with 'tude while courting you with delicate hooks and dazzling musicianship. Drummer Puppy Mills is a percussion juggernaut whose snare hits drop like the thousand clopping heels of a North Korean Army march, whilst Guitarist/Vocalist Clark Westfield fronts the stage with demanding showmanship. Jutting his hips from side and side and frequently jousting his Les Paul skywards like a warlock summoning pagan powers with a staff, Clark refuses to permit a dull moment into even the emptiest of rooms. Westfield also give you that-front-row-of-the-comedy-club apprehension by regularly heckling timid or non-responsive audience members. It can be a little in-your-face, but ultimately you have to respect the bravado because the songs are too good to dismiss. Check out their myspace page for tunes, tour dates, and some amusing dis-dialogues with ostensibly random people. - The Deli (NYC Mag)

It's hard to mix brawn with sass - it's sort of like that old thing about oil and water. But there is a band sauntering around the LES that knows how to emulsify these oft-opposing forces a into zesty rock sauce, and they are The Gay Blades. This burly duo's blend of anxious spazz pop is accosting but sweet; it boldly confronts you with 'tude while courting you with delicate hooks and dazzling musicianship. Drummer Puppy Mills is a percussion juggernaut whose snare hits drop like the thousand clopping heels of a North Korean Army march, whilst Guitarist/Vocalist Clark Westfield fronts the stage with demanding showmanship. Jutting his hips from side and side and frequently jousting his Les Paul skywards like a warlock summoning pagan powers with a staff, Clark refuses to permit a dull moment into even the emptiest of rooms. Westfield also give you that-front-row-of-the-comedy-club apprehension by regularly heckling timid or non-responsive audience members. It can be a little in-your-face, but ultimately you have to respect the bravado because the songs are too good to dismiss. Check out their myspace page for tunes, tour dates, and some amusing dis-dialogues with ostensibly random people. - The Deli (NYC Mag)

"If Freddie Mercury sang for Death From Above 1979, these guys would open the show." - CMJ Festival Guide

"If Freddie Mercury sang for Death From Above 1979, these guys would open the show." - CMJ Festival Guide

"Fuck it, pure two-dude rock dudeness. There, we said it. They kill." - Paris Noir Sure Blanc

"Fuck it, pure two-dude rock dudeness. There, we said it. They kill." - Paris Noir Sure Blanc

"A pair of double Ds short of The White Stripes. The Blades tore through a fun set notable for Clark Westfield's rifling guitar and quick wit." - Earvolution

"A pair of double Ds short of The White Stripes. The Blades tore through a fun set notable for Clark Westfield's rifling guitar and quick wit." - Earvolution

"A 2 piece that sounds like a 4 piece. Excellent guitar writing, amazing guitar tones along with an crazy-tight singing drummer make this band sound HUGE. The Gay Blades have great melodic style, accompanied with hair parting rock-riffage and a smile-enducing live show to boot." - A Kitty Says Rowr

"A 2 piece that sounds like a 4 piece. Excellent guitar writing, amazing guitar tones along with an crazy-tight singing drummer make this band sound HUGE. The Gay Blades have great melodic style, accompanied with hair parting rock-riffage and a smile-enducing live show to boot." - A Kitty Says Rowr

"...For only two dudes, Clark Westfield and Puppy Mills output a HUGE product. With transitions, textures and elements to spare, these are not simple rock songs, even though they do simply rock. A song on Ghosts can hang a left turn at any moment, and none of these jumps are unfortunate. As spazzy as the album is on a whole, I am never lost in the mix. I think this has to do with guitarist/vocalist Westfield. He gives off an eager and emotional energy that matches the mood of the moment....There is an underlying (and sometimes obvious) absurdity/quirkiness on Ghosts that is part ridiculous and part brilliance. Besides being indie rock that actually rocks, The Gay Blades keep it fun. And that’s something you can take beyond the dive bar." - Absolute Punk

"...For only two dudes, Clark Westfield and Puppy Mills output a HUGE product. With transitions, textures and elements to spare, these are not simple rock songs, even though they do simply rock. A song on Ghosts can hang a left turn at any moment, and none of these jumps are unfortunate. As spazzy as the album is on a whole, I am never lost in the mix. I think this has to do with guitarist/vocalist Westfield. He gives off an eager and emotional energy that matches the mood of the moment....There is an underlying (and sometimes obvious) absurdity/quirkiness on Ghosts that is part ridiculous and part brilliance. Besides being indie rock that actually rocks, The Gay Blades keep it fun. And that’s something you can take beyond the dive bar." - Absolute Punk

"...the Gay Blades smother themselves in irony the way Iggy used to smear himself with peanut butter and broken glass...So what’s the deal? Like Harry Nilsson, the Gay Blades appropriate classic American pop tropes – cocktail lounge saloon songs, cock-rock riffarama, singer-songwriter angst – all to advance their own nefarious ends. Sure it's catchy, even pretty at times. But these MySpace-jiggering subversives are out to destroy rock and roll by embracing its shmaltziest extremes; the harder they croon, the less they mean it. Don’t believe a word they say. And if you find yourself singing along, leave the room immediately. You have been warned." - Jersey Beat

"...the Gay Blades smother themselves in irony the way Iggy used to smear himself with peanut butter and broken glass...So what’s the deal? Like Harry Nilsson, the Gay Blades appropriate classic American pop tropes – cocktail lounge saloon songs, cock-rock riffarama, singer-songwriter angst – all to advance their own nefarious ends. Sure it's catchy, even pretty at times. But these MySpace-jiggering subversives are out to destroy rock and roll by embracing its shmaltziest extremes; the harder they croon, the less they mean it. Don’t believe a word they say. And if you find yourself singing along, leave the room immediately. You have been warned." - Jersey Beat