The Genders

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There can't be many cool band names left in the world and Israel may seem an unlikely rock 'n' roll mecca, but this Tel Aviv-based band The Genders defy the odds. Formed in 2004, their first two remarkably titled albums, 'Rockin' In Ramallah' and 'Virgin No.72', have seen them get songs on TV shows such as LA Ink and 90210 as well as seeing them play coast to coast in the US; that's pretty good exposure for any Middle Eastern band. Taking several years to complete, this self-produced third album is, as the band state "bluesier, rootsier rock n roll" than previous releases and that can only be a good thing.

'Black Summer' gets things off to a fine start, it's all choppy, low slung guitars, second-hand Aerosmith riffs and female backing vocals. With not one hint of an accent vocalist Amir Neubach lays down confident vocals full of sleaze and swagger. The following 'Knee High Boots' puts a classic AC/DC riff to an Aerosmith/Stones style groove and is that a cowbell I hear before me? Great stuff going on here.

'Rock Bottom' is a slick and tasty balladic affair with a great chorus full of feel and emotion, it has that certain chilled but uplifting feel that puts me in mind of Hanoi Rocks style ballads and it has a great solo that brings to mind epic images of Slash, deserts and churches, if you know what I mean.

'Stay' is a more countrified heartfelt ballad that rides on a cool, laid back, plucked riff, added hammond organ and sweet female backing vocals give it that certain gospel feel, with again a fine solo courtesy of guitarist Yohai Portal.

'No Guts No Glory' is a '70s inspired Glam Rock stomper, like the New York Dolls on marshmallows and fizzy pop, it's a camped-up affair that even has a Paul Stanley-like lead out rap. On first listen it was cheesy and I didn't like it, by the third spin I'm loving it. Unlike the following 'Win You Over', a sickly, insipid and over-long ballad that I can frankly do without to be honest, it doesn't fit the feel of the album at all, one to skip.

Straight ahead dumb ass '80s style rockers like 'Drink Up' and 'Break My Heart' fit the bill perfectly, even the over descriptive lyrics of several songs can be forgiven when they end up sounding just a touch like Hanoi Rocks to my ears. The chugging 'Sweet Denial' though goes in a different direction, it has a certain Goth feel to it coming on like those Finnish Goth lords HIM which is quite nice.

For a band to come from the Middle East and produce a fine rock album is in itself an accomplishment. 'Guts And Heartstrings' is an album filled with sleazy rock 'n' roll just the way we like it and The Genders certainly have enough Glunk in their trunk to satisfy anyone with a rock 'n' roll heart. The guitars are slung from the crotch and the vocals come from the heart, with riffs pilfered from the best and enough reminders of the good bits of the '80s rock scene to keep us all happy, this is an album worth taking a chance on.
- Uber Rock Magazine

There was a time when The Genders were content to simply be the sleaziest rock band in Tel Aviv, and while they have maintained their thorny crown, their third long player finds em diving headfirst towards Golden Gods status. Their lean, slinky punk n roll has given way to big, chunky, fist-punching arena rawk, with thunder-chucking AC/DC riffs and banging cowbells. For the most part, you get what you pay for: Black Summer, Knee High Boots, Drink Up, all raging Sonic-Temple-esque odes to rocknroll excess. But as the albums title implies, they have more on their minds than booze, blood and black leather, so you also get a fistful of sidewinders, like the country-tinged (!) pop n roller No Guts No Glory, the positively HIM-esque rain-rock of Love Is Dead and, most alarmingly, the 80s puffball balladry of Win You Over. Which definitely won't. Still, even with a couple of weird detours, this one's a firecracker. - Classic Rock Magazine -(Future)

The Genders' excellent debut Rockin' in Ramallah offers a disturbing, sex-dripping version of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Shai Lahav

Forget Eitan Schwartz, the real Israeli ambassadors to North America are a growing number of Israeli rockers, releasing albums in English, touring the continent and ever so naturally combining distorted guitars with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Genders, a new band releasing their debut CD on a Canadian label as well as in the Middle-Eastern province take it to the extreme. Enclosed in the album is a letter from band member Amir Neubach (ex-member of the band Salem), in which he recounts the story of the bombing of a coffee shop near his studio, compares the radical Jewish right wing to the Arab suicide bombers, admits that the IDF makes the daily lives of millions of Palestinians miserable and concludes with the hopes that rock'n'roll will save the world, no less.

Fortunately his music, along with Ofer Koren (Algir) and Orr Kahlon is much better than his public-relations skills. The Genders deliver their angry Punk-Rock with style and humor. They navigate with great skill between sub-genres including Metal and Garage, displaying musical ability in par with the most talked-about college bands of the hour. Notable pearls: "Horatio", about a settler from Brooklyn who keeps a female settler on every hill and never sheds a tear when Tel Aviv gets bombed; "Mute Button", featuring a line that every man can identify with, "You should have come with a mute button, baby" and the title track, featuring lines like "Had a girl up in Nablus, don't see much of her these days, cause there must be about nineteen roadblocks between here and there, or so they say". It sounds better in English, even if the message is oftentimes disturbing. The Genders are great; no words describe them better. Try to catch them in November, somewhere between the East and West Coasts.
- Shai Lahav

By Simon Trainor

Sublime, a new music venue in Tel Aviv's southern neighborhood of Florentine, is the setting. With posters of yesteryear music legends The Ramones, Sex Pistols and Nirvana adorning the walls, and the only light emanating from the stage, it's little wonder that the next Israeli rock gods, The Genders, chose this venue to mark their return from the abyss that is the North American music circuit.

Strutting toward the stage, singer and guitarist Amir Neubach summons the crowd to its feet. It's an irrelevant call - the audience was already on the brink of leaping up thanks to the infectious grunt about to be unleashed on this small, packed venue.

And so it began.

"It" was an hour and a half of hard RNR that would have my mother running for the trenches. Even more surprising is that they sing in English - and are good to boot. This is a rarity for Israeli rock bands that often have a Hebrew undertone anytime they attempt lyrics in English. Speaking to the band before the gig gave me a little insight.

The Genders are a four-piece ensemble based in Tel Aviv. Formed in 2004, their three-week, 17-date mini-tour of the U.S. and Canada immediately drew the attention of hip Canadian label AMP Records, after record producer and club owner Larry set them up with two gigs in Canada.

"We started out playing a show in Hamilton, which is near Toronto, and those two gigs were booked by Larry. It started out as 'Can you book us a show?' and it went on from there. We hung out at Larry's we had some barbeque and he said 'Yeah, let's put your record out'."






Munching down barbeque in Toronto led to the release of The Genders debut album "Rockin In Ramallah" in November 2005. This was followed by another tour of North America, this time playing 46 shows in venues bore a slightly stronger resemblance to a rock bar.

By this point, the tour and album are getting reviews from some music publications, and slowly the band is making headway in a place far removed from the streets of Tel Aviv.

The band then began work on their second release, "Virgin No. 72", which the band recorded under their own label Dead Sea Records, named for a Gan Hatikva street where the band produced much of its material.

Another American tour kicked off in October 2006, taking them again from coast to coast for a total of 39 gigs.

Back in the present day, one listen to this alternative rock band with its punk style performance is enough to convince the critics that these guys are the next big thing in Israel.

The group of teenagers at the front of the stage looks adoringly as the band jumps around and loses control to the music. The show doesn't grant you a moment to catch your breath - something which Amir explains is part of the act.

"We don't like the type of show when the music plays and then the song ends and then it's like a weird kinda... we like to keep it in your face song after song."

With themes ranging from sexual encounters with female officers to suicide bombers - and everything in between - the band may sound controversial to many but its members insist they are not meant to be taken seriously.

"No... well it depends. In the song 'Mammary Glands'... well we like to take that pretty seriously," guitarist Nahi Ninyo interjects, proving Amir's point that this band is tongue in cheek from start to finish.

Currently the band is in Israel, planning the release of "Virgin No. 72" with the Israeli label "Dead Sea Records" in April, and a major world tour kicks off in June 2007. This tour will take them again to the U.S. and Canada, as well as Western Europe.

With their roadshow set to last at least until November 2007, the band is excited about their apparent rise in profile. In their own words, there is less of the "do-it-yourself type places" than on their first tour. As far as they are concerned, there's no going back to the dingy holes and house parties.


article url:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtUnd.jhtml?itemNo=828743&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y%3Cbr%3E
- Ha'aretz 2006

December 29 2005

The GENDERS grew up studying American rock and roll, absorbing the sound and stance of bands like the Stooges and the Velvet Underground. And in that tradition, they sing about what they know: sex, drugs, and, uh, the Arab-Israeli conflict. See, the Genders hail from Tel Aviv, a relatively peaceful city in Israel -- emphasis on "relatively" -- and days before they started recording their new Rockin' in Ramallah (AMP), a coffee shop down the street from their studio was bombed. According to their MySpace blog, singer Amir Neubach has never been across the Green Line, but he likes to think of Ramallah as an idyllic Palestinian equivalent to Tel Aviv -- a place where the young and carefree can get their kicks, feel up chicks (or get felt up), and listen to loud music. Sample lyric, from "Horatio": "I ride a tank in the West Bank/I never leave/Who needs Tel Aviv?/Look out mama/My name is Horatio/I perform cunnilingus in return for fellatio." Can we get these guys in on the peace negotiations? Tonight they open for the IRREVERENDS, GOLDENWEST MOTOR LODGE, and WATTS at the Abbey Lounge, 3 Beacon St, Somerville | 617.441.9631.

- Boston Phoenix

Straight outta Tel Aviv (!) the bomb-dodging Genders are the slinkiest, kinkiest, ass-rockinest cock n’ roll sensation in the Middle East. Well, the slinkiest, the only, whatever. And yeah, I realize that it’s culture shock to even consider an Israeli sleaze rock scene, but baby, they got booze and pussy EVERYWHERE, so it ain’t much of a surprise. What is a surprise is how fuck-on-the-floor BAD ASS the Genders’ opening salvo, “Horatio”, is. Coming on like some bleary-eyed cross ‘tween the Cramps and the Hellacopters, “Horatio” is a swaggering, full-throttle cock rock ode to oral sex, complete with free-flowing cowbell, Johnny Thunders-esque solo, and this chorus: “Hey baby, my name is Horatio/I perform cunnilingus in return for fellatio”. How’s THAT for a rhyming scheme? I mean, it’d be even better if one of ‘em was actually NAMED Horatio, but whatever. This song slays, baby.

S’funny, tho, these Genders slip in and out of styles and sounds like Vegas lounge lizards. “When I Grow Up (I Wanna Be a Fucking Stoner)” is a rubber-legged “Louie, Louie” cop, “Scream” is rattling indie-rock, the crazed “Sharleen” is frat-wrecking 60’s psyche-rock, “We Awright” rides a breezy Stones riff, and reeks of NYC superhipster stuff (it’s a deadringer for Cock N Roll faves Bona Roba), “Gender Bender” is sleazy acid-electro-punk, somewhere ‘tween Soft Cell and a gay S&M porn soundtrack, “They Wouldn’t Let You in the KKK” is the Butthole Surfers in a skirmish with an 80’s metal riff, and closer “High Heels” sounds like Oasis in a group-grope with the Alice Cooper band, circa ’72. And you know what the motherfucker of it is? It’s all GOOD.

Obviously, with so many genre-bending styles to choose from, it’s anybody’s guess where the Genders are going with all this top-shelf sleaze, but one thing’s for sure, wherever the fuck it is, I’m going with ‘em. Well, unless it’s to the Gaza Strip or somewhere. That shit’s too dangerous. Otherwise, the Genders (half of whom are US born, by the way, which probably explains the cock in their walk) are not only a revelation (they have rock and roll in the fucking DESERT!), but one of the best purveyors of the wild beast throb I’ve heard in months. And lucky for you, you can download their ENTIRE demo for free on their site. Goddamn, I love rock n’ roll.

- Demo of the month, August 2004

So where's the girls n liquor!, we got some RNR going on here for sure, we're not re-inventing the wheel lets assume the ideal of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it!' we're just' rockin! A well balanced CD of out and out raw RNR no frills, no MTV, no million $$$ budget and no consideration for others, crank up everything to maximum and let's tear down your house and then the neighbours house!, this is reckless abandon the louder you wind up the dial the more the enjoyment, it's not 100mph grinding power, its bluesy sleazy RNR, male, female or other your gender isn't important, this band has ALL species covered if you like your RNR let's get it on! - Marco Moronne

Straight outta Tel Aviv (!) the bomb-dodging Genders are the slinkiest, kinkiest, ass-rockinest cock n’ roll sensation in the Middle East. Well, the slinkiest, the only, whatever. And yeah, I realize that it’s culture shock to even consider an Israeli sleaze rock scene, but baby, they got booze and pussy EVERYWHERE, so it ain’t much of a surprise. What is a surprise is how fuck-on-the-floor BAD ASS the Genders’ opening salvo, “Horatio”, is. Coming on like some bleary-eyed cross ‘tween the Cramps and the Hellacopters, “Horatio” is a swaggering, full-throttle cock rock ode to oral sex, complete with free-flowing cowbell, Johnny Thunders-esque solo, and this chorus: “Hey baby, my name is Horatio/I perform cunnilingus in return for fellatio”. How’s THAT for a rhyming scheme? I mean, it’d be even better if one of ‘em was actually NAMED Horatio, but whatever. This song slays, baby.

S’funny, tho, these Genders slip in and out of styles and sounds like Vegas lounge lizards. “When I Grow Up (I Wanna Be a Fucking Stoner)” is a rubber-legged “Louie, Louie” cop, “Scream” is rattling indie-rock, the crazed “Sharleen” is frat-wrecking 60’s psyche-rock, “We Awright” rides a breezy Stones riff, and reeks of NYC superhipster stuff (it’s a deadringer for Cock N Roll faves Bona Roba), “Gender Bender” is sleazy acid-electro-punk, somewhere ‘tween Soft Cell and a gay S&M porn soundtrack, “They Wouldn’t Let You in the KKK” is the Butthole Surfers in a skirmish with an 80’s metal riff, and closer “High Heels” sounds like Oasis in a group-grope with the Alice Cooper band, circa ’72. And you know what the motherfucker of it is? It’s all GOOD.

Obviously, with so many genre-bending styles to choose from, it’s anybody’s guess where the Genders are going with all this top-shelf sleaze, but one thing’s for sure, wherever the fuck it is, I’m going with ‘em. Well, unless it’s to the Gaza Strip or somewhere. That shit’s too dangerous. Otherwise, the Genders (half of whom are US born, by the way, which probably explains the cock in their walk) are not only a revelation (they have rock and roll in the fucking DESERT!), but one of the best purveyors of the wild beast throb I’ve heard in months. And lucky for you, you can download their ENTIRE demo for free on their site. Goddamn, I love rock n’ roll.

- Demo of the month, August 2004

Wow. Who woulda thought that a kickass DIY band like this would hail from Tel Aviv, Israel? Not I, said the head-scratching reviewer.

The Rolling Stones were either a blues band or a rock band or a beautiful bastardization of the two. The first two tracks here (“Horatio” and “When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Fucking Stoner”) sound like the Stones (but in some kind of wonderful pop mode). Equally full of swagger and catchy-as-heck melodies. “Scream” is a more straightforward rocker, but “Sharlene” is back to the swinging, hooky stuff that totally rules. Everything up to track 6 is golden, but at “Gender Bender” and beyond, the group ventures into different territory that, although nice, is a shift of gears that leaves you itching to skip back to the hits at the beginning of the disc.

Hmmm. Maybe I have not been clear enough. THE GENDERS ARE COOL! The music is good! Don’t believe me? Check out the tunes at www.thegenders.com and hear for yourself. Normally I would not go out of my way to take special note of a band’s web site (and this is even odder considering the site itself looks pathetically DIY), but apparently they have this whole 8-song EP ready for your approval. Don’t be lame; check this stuff out. Definitely worth your time.

- Mark Hughson

You'd have to be pretty damn heartless to resist the charms of three-chord wonders The Genders. Granted, their songs are derivative and their lyrics are repetitive, but how can three guys from Tel-Aviv, Israel, singing about weed, bitches and trans-gendered adventures amidst bombs and "Jewfros", be totally without merit? This eight song EP proves that The Stooges, The Stones, The Troggs and The Velvet Underground are alive and well in the hearts of West Bank scenesters, a fact that I find infinitely heartwarming.
Opener "Horatio" does not miss its golden opportunity to rhyme said name with a certain sexual act, which tells me that these fellas have more to offer lyrically than they would have us believe based on the material that follows. "When I Grow Up (I Wanna be a Fuckin' Stoner)" reveals more than half of its lyrics in its title. This song and "Sharlene" have the same janky-swing as "Wild Thing" and "Get Off My Cloud", and, come to think of it, they also use the same three chords as those ditties. "Scream" would not stand out on a Green Day-heavy early '90s punk compilation, and "We Awright" features a chorus cadged from Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down". "Gender Bender", a confession of sorts, and "KKK", a scathing indictment of a controversial American organization that shall remain nameless, show the boys at their hardest, leading me to believe that they must once have owned a Nine Inch Nails album.

While The Genders are not afraid to laugh at themselves, they also have some serious rock carnage roaring through their guts. They've eaten rock all their lives, and it's given them indigestion. Over 21 minutes and ten seconds, The Genders remind us once again that rehashed "punknroll" (again, their word) has a definite place in the world of music. Whether that place is in your Discman or your trash can is up to you.

- Sarah Silver

'The rural areas in America don't know [much] about Israel...what's going on here has more to do with their culture than they think.' - Amir Neubach

Settlers, suicide bombings, and politics are among the topics that Amir Neubach, Ofer Korichoner, and Orr Kahlon deal with as the Tel Aviv rock trio, The Genders. For these three Israelis nothing could be more natural than to sing about the 'situation' (or matzav) in English.

"It would make sense to sing about [the situation] in Hebrew because we all know what's happening here," says Neubach. "But [people abroad] don't know. They think they know from CNN and regular news media but that doesn't tell anybody anything...they don't actually show what people go through here."

The Genders aren't about causing distress. Nothing is sacred as this trio entertainingly skewers life in the Middle East.

"I kind of feel sorry for American bands that they don't have such a cool subject matter to write about," says Neubach, over coffee at a Givatayim coffee house.

From their song "Horatio", about an American Jew who moves to Israel to become a settler in the West Bank to "Swastika on your T-Shirt", about ignorant youth who think it's cool to support hate-mongers, to the title track, "Rockin' in Ramallah", about the poor quality of life for Palestinians in Ramallah, all 12 tracks are sung tongue-in-cheek.

The Genders are made up of three Hebrew-speaking Israelis who prefer to sing in English. Guitar-vocalist-songwriter Neubach, 30, attributes his fluency in English to a three year stint his parents did as shlichim in Brighton, England when he was a child. Fellow songwriter and bassist-vocalist Korichoner, 30, logged a couple years in the US as a musician. The third member of the group is drummer-vocalist Kahlon, 24.

Make no mistake this is not an album for children. In addition to the serious topics, there's also a good dose of sleaze and sexual connotations in their lyrics. Moreover, the band's web site (www.thegenders.com) features Israeli "bikini babes", which Neubach says, "gives Israel a good image." It shows that Israel is not a "conservative religious place where nobody is allowed to do anything," says the father of one. "For good or bad, we're very Americanized."

The Genders were formed in 2004. Originally they were supposed to be a group with both sexes but instead the three guys decided to they were fine as a trio, and nevertheless kept the name of the group. Their debut album, "Rockin' in Ramallah", was released in Israel on September 7.

Last September they hit the road for a three-week 17-date mini tour of the US and Canada. Next month they're returning to English-language stomping grounds for a 60-date coast to coast North American tour.

"The rural areas in America don't know anything about Israel and that's why it's good for us to go there. It's cool to them that we're from Israel because it's exotic. I want to tell them that what's going on here has more to do with their culture than they think," says Neubach, the band's spokesman.

"Americans look at Israel from a movie point of view, that we're fighting one another in a desert. They have a romanticized view of what's happening here," says Neubach, a former member of the Salem metal band. "People see Israel as the evil empire in the Middle East. They don't see the physical boundaries on a map and think, well, how could this little insignificant dot be the evil empire? They don't know geography very well, but they hear a lot of stuff. What they think is Israel is this big imperialistic country that's conquered the whole of the Middle East."

While most music lovers accept them for their music, there are those who come to The Genders' shows to provoke. Neubach relates that one woman in New Jersey was offended every time the band mentioned the word "Israel".

At home, Neubach identifies himself as very left-wing. "I'm in favor of a Palestinian State, I'm even for the right of return. In Israel people would crucify me for my very left wing views. But in America, when people ask 'are you guys Zionists', hell ya, we're Zionists. They don't know it just means that Jewish people have a right to live in their land. They think Zionism is racism."

The Genders let only their lyrics show that they hail from Israel. You won't find any Middle Eastern beats mixed in to their music. "I think if you're into rock and roll you want to hear rock and roll. You don't want to hear some Middle Eastern guy and his take on rock. Rock is an idiom in which to be pure, it's not an idiom to start working your scales into. We would sound stupid doing Led Zeppelin type Middle Eastern stuff. We're not about minor harmonic scales," explains Neubach, who counts as his influences Velvet Underground, The Kinks, The Clash, The Ramones, Chuck Berry, AC/DC, and Elvis Presley among others.

As for The Genders dreams, the band wants to stay Israeli but make it in the US. They are already working - Viva Sarah Press

Wow. Who woulda thought that a kickass DIY band like this would hail from Tel Aviv, Israel? Not I, said the head-scratching reviewer.

The Rolling Stones were either a blues band or a rock band or a beautiful bastardization of the two. The first two tracks here (“Horatio” and “When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Fucking Stoner”) sound like the Stones (but in some kind of wonderful pop mode). Equally full of swagger and catchy-as-heck melodies. “Scream” is a more straightforward rocker, but “Sharlene” is back to the swinging, hooky stuff that totally rules. Everything up to track 6 is golden, but at “Gender Bender” and beyond, the group ventures into different territory that, although nice, is a shift of gears that leaves you itching to skip back to the hits at the beginning of the disc.

Hmmm. Maybe I have not been clear enough. THE GENDERS ARE COOL! The music is good! Don’t believe me? Check out the tunes at www.thegenders.com and hear for yourself. Normally I would not go out of my way to take special note of a band’s web site (and this is even odder considering the site itself looks pathetically DIY), but apparently they have this whole 8-song EP ready for your approval. Don’t be lame; check this stuff out. Definitely worth your time.

- Mark Hughson

By Viva sarah Press

Dubbed the "kinkiest cock 'n' roll sensation in the Middle East," four-piece Israeli outfit The Genders wields a provocative mix of sleaze and politics. Formed in Tel Aviv in 2004, the band (comprised of Amir Neubach, guitar and lead vocals; Orr Kahlon, drums and vocals; Nahi Ninyo, guitar; Tanny Clapsaddle, bass and vocals) started laying down tracks for their debut album, Rockin' in Ramallah, after a suicide bombing attack shook the building that housed their home studio. While they initially formed the band to keep people's minds off the "shit that's going down right under [our] noses," in Neubach's words, their just-released follow-up CD, Virgin No. 72, is anything but escapist. Songs like "Assassination Fascination" and "Dome of the Rock" are merciless toward both settlers and terrorists.
English isn't an official language in Israel, but Neubach, the band's spokesman, says he never considered writing in Hebrew. The quartet now boasts a bigger fan base in North America than at home. Currently on tour in the U.S. and Canada, Neubach spoke with Nerve about the group's new album, the hot women on their website, and post-concert orgies.

Why "The Genders"?
It's just a cool name. We had a girl for about a day but she was [former bassist] Ofer Korichoner's ex-girlfriend, so the chemistry wasn't that good. We liked the name, though.

You're from the Holy Land, but your sound is American rock n' roll.

People don't know what to expect from us being from Israel. Half the time they expect we're going to be stereotypical Middle Eastern types donning a keffiyeh or kippa. They expect someone different look-wise; they expect a different kind of music. It's always surprising for the American audience that we are a rock'n'roll band that looks and sounds like a rock'n'roll band.

Your songs mix sex and politics. How do people react?
The lyrics that are audible are the funny one-liners that people like . . . "Honey, take my hand/And put it on your mammary gland" ("Mammary Glands") or "Hey baby, my name is Horatio/I perform cunnilingus in return for fellatio" ("Horatio"). They get the catch phrases but they don't get the politics. I wouldn't classify our lyrics as political. Our lyrics are about here and here is all about war and politics. Every song is from a different viewpoint. "Virgin No. 72" is from the suicide bomber's point of view."Rockin' in Ramallah" is from some guy in Ramallah's point of view."Horatio" is from a settler's point of view. We're not a political band but obviously politics seep through. Naturally, in Israel, if you're going to write about your environment you'd have to be an ostrich to not sing about something to do with politics.

So, The Genders are keen on giving North American fans an authentic view of Israel?
Americans look at Israel from a movie point of view, that we're fighting one another in a desert. They have a romanticized view of what's happening here. People see Israel as the evil empire in the Middle East. They don't see the physical boundaries on a map and think, "Well, how could this little insignificant dot be the evil empire?" What they think is Israel is this big imperialistic country that's conquered the whole of the Middle East. The rural areas in America don't know anything about Israel and that's why it's good for us to go there. We show them that what's going on here has more to do with their culture than they think. For good or bad, we're very Americanized

The Genders sing in English, not Hebrew. Are you aimed at an American audience or an Israeli one?
I don't think we're aimed at anything but we love American music. I think nowadays every songwriter writes to his own record collection. Nobody's John Lennon anymore. You don't make up a genre. We are aimed to the American audience in the sense that the music we love to hear is American roots rock. Even if you're from Sweden like the Hellacopters, you can sound just like an American band.

In your lyrics you skewer settlers, terrorists, etc. Is anything sacred?
No. [Laughs.] Maybe the Holocaust. [Pauses to think.] No, we did the "Swastika on your T-Shirt" song. It wasn't really about the Holocaust, but it was about Nazism. One of my former bands had a song titled "Concentration Camp Rock". It was a take on "Jailhouse Rock". I'm a third-generation Holocaust survivor. We're allowed to make jokes about things that are sacred to us, but if somebody else makes a joke it's crossing the line. I can't say "nigger," but I can say "kike." And we say that a lot. On stage we say, "What's up kike?" to one another and shock Americans.

Virgin No. 72 is the name of your new album. The title track song includes lyrics, "I'm on the bus and I'm ready to explode/ One look at you, I could blow my load. . .I want 'em all to look just like you/Baby be my virgin number seventy-two."
[The suicide bomber] is on the bus, he's looking at the Israeli chick who's half naked, and he's thinking, "Yea - Nerve Magazine

By Viva sarah Press

Dubbed the "kinkiest cock 'n' roll sensation in the Middle East," four-piece Israeli outfit The Genders wields a provocative mix of sleaze and politics. Formed in Tel Aviv in 2004, the band (comprised of Amir Neubach, guitar and lead vocals; Orr Kahlon, drums and vocals; Nahi Ninyo, guitar; Tanny Clapsaddle, bass and vocals) started laying down tracks for their debut album, Rockin' in Ramallah, after a suicide bombing attack shook the building that housed their home studio. While they initially formed the band to keep people's minds off the "shit that's going down right under [our] noses," in Neubach's words, their just-released follow-up CD, Virgin No. 72, is anything but escapist. Songs like "Assassination Fascination" and "Dome of the Rock" are merciless toward both settlers and terrorists.
English isn't an official language in Israel, but Neubach, the band's spokesman, says he never considered writing in Hebrew. The quartet now boasts a bigger fan base in North America than at home. Currently on tour in the U.S. and Canada, Neubach spoke with Nerve about the group's new album, the hot women on their website, and post-concert orgies.

Why "The Genders"?
It's just a cool name. We had a girl for about a day but she was [former bassist] Ofer Korichoner's ex-girlfriend, so the chemistry wasn't that good. We liked the name, though.

You're from the Holy Land, but your sound is American rock n' roll.

People don't know what to expect from us being from Israel. Half the time they expect we're going to be stereotypical Middle Eastern types donning a keffiyeh or kippa. They expect someone different look-wise; they expect a different kind of music. It's always surprising for the American audience that we are a rock'n'roll band that looks and sounds like a rock'n'roll band.

Your songs mix sex and politics. How do people react?
The lyrics that are audible are the funny one-liners that people like . . . "Honey, take my hand/And put it on your mammary gland" ("Mammary Glands") or "Hey baby, my name is Horatio/I perform cunnilingus in return for fellatio" ("Horatio"). They get the catch phrases but they don't get the politics. I wouldn't classify our lyrics as political. Our lyrics are about here and here is all about war and politics. Every song is from a different viewpoint. "Virgin No. 72" is from the suicide bomber's point of view."Rockin' in Ramallah" is from some guy in Ramallah's point of view."Horatio" is from a settler's point of view. We're not a political band but obviously politics seep through. Naturally, in Israel, if you're going to write about your environment you'd have to be an ostrich to not sing about something to do with politics.

So, The Genders are keen on giving North American fans an authentic view of Israel?
Americans look at Israel from a movie point of view, that we're fighting one another in a desert. They have a romanticized view of what's happening here. People see Israel as the evil empire in the Middle East. They don't see the physical boundaries on a map and think, "Well, how could this little insignificant dot be the evil empire?" What they think is Israel is this big imperialistic country that's conquered the whole of the Middle East. The rural areas in America don't know anything about Israel and that's why it's good for us to go there. We show them that what's going on here has more to do with their culture than they think. For good or bad, we're very Americanized

The Genders sing in English, not Hebrew. Are you aimed at an American audience or an Israeli one?
I don't think we're aimed at anything but we love American music. I think nowadays every songwriter writes to his own record collection. Nobody's John Lennon anymore. You don't make up a genre. We are aimed to the American audience in the sense that the music we love to hear is American roots rock. Even if you're from Sweden like the Hellacopters, you can sound just like an American band.

In your lyrics you skewer settlers, terrorists, etc. Is anything sacred?
No. [Laughs.] Maybe the Holocaust. [Pauses to think.] No, we did the "Swastika on your T-Shirt" song. It wasn't really about the Holocaust, but it was about Nazism. One of my former bands had a song titled "Concentration Camp Rock". It was a take on "Jailhouse Rock". I'm a third-generation Holocaust survivor. We're allowed to make jokes about things that are sacred to us, but if somebody else makes a joke it's crossing the line. I can't say "nigger," but I can say "kike." And we say that a lot. On stage we say, "What's up kike?" to one another and shock Americans.

Virgin No. 72 is the name of your new album. The title track song includes lyrics, "I'm on the bus and I'm ready to explode/ One look at you, I could blow my load. . .I want 'em all to look just like you/Baby be my virgin number seventy-two."
[The suicide bomber] is on the bus, he's looking at the Israeli chick who's half naked, and he's thinking, "Yea - Nerve Magazine