Lydia Lunch Retrovirus at the Bowery Electric

Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch on June 2, 1959) moved to New York City from Rochester at the age of 13 in 1973, and soon after became one of the leaders of the punk rock and No Wave music scenes with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and as an actress in several independent films. She later formed and recorded with 8-Eyed Spy before launching a solo career in music, film and mostly in spoken-word events.

Lunch returned to music with her new band Retrovirus tonight at the Bowery Electric. The repertoire was comprised of a span of Lunch’s catalogue, reinterpreted by a searing and bludgeoning band. Always at the cutting edge, never succumbing to widespread or commercial appeal, Lunch seemed to have taken her spoken word works and wrapped music around them, much like Patti Smith, Jim Carroll and maybe even Lou Reed did in their early days. The lyrics often were provocative, and her snarly delivery meant that even now in her late 50s she has not refined her attitude. The band was not nostalgic for 1970s punk of Lunch’s earlier musical adventures; rather, the band played taut, heavy, breakneck guitar-heavy rock. This could be the project she needed in order to find a wider audience.