FALSE VIRGINS

In 1987, the late David Aaron Clark shed some (I said some) of his X-obsession for a full-throttle Sonic Youth sound, re-casting The Plague Dogs as False Virgins. With Clark and Tracey Jayne Lubben as co-vocalists, the effect was John and Exene singing over Sonic Youth's Moore and Ranaldo. Lee Ranaldo in fact produced FV's 1989 LP Skinjob. It didn't sell, but it's available on iTunes, a rarity for New Brunswick bands of the era. Unlike the ever-changing Plague Dogs, the musical core of False Virgins — Clark, John T. Quinn III, and Bob Ramos (see also Spy Gods) — was more stable (Ramos replaced Lesser Koodoo's Kara Thrasher in 1988). They were no slouch as a live band, in particular their Court Tavern debut show. Finishing the set with a cover of "Wild Thing" (by way of X), the audience moved like a post-Nirvana indie crowd — and believe me, that didn't happen much at the Court. But then, their shows could also just hit the dirt. It all hinged on Clark's state of mind. Post-80s, the band went thorough numerous changes, made another record, and things got darker and weirder for Clark and the Virgins. But that's another story.

I have many False Virgins flyers because I knew the band, and was tasked with creating several of them. I have no evidence that Quinn did any, surprising given his considerable talents. See Plague Dogs for fine examples of his work. The Jessica Hahn flyer was a Lubben inspiration (she calls it "a no-brainer"). It's also rips off Sonic Youth's Into The Groove(y) sleeve, but whatever.

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