Faster Pussycat at the Bowery Electric

Taime Downe, born Gustave Molvik, grew up in Seattle, Washington, and in high school he formed a band named the Bondage Boys. He later relocated to San Diego, California, then Los Angeles, where he worked in a Hollywood clothing store and ran the stage lights at the Troubadour. In 1985 he formed Faster Pussycat in Los Angeles, California. The name of the band was derived from the film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. After three albums, the band split in 1993. Downe then teamed with the industrial band Pigface before forming his own industrial rock act called the Newlydeads. In 2001 Downe reformed Faster Pussycat with some of his former bandmates, but in 2006, three former original Faster Pussycat members also began performing under the name Faster Pussycat, creating two versions of the band, both claiming to be the original. A year later, the second band dissolved. Downe is the only remaining original band member; Faster Pussycat presently consists of Downe on vocals, Xristian Simon and Ace Von Johnson on guitars, Danny Nordal on bass and Chad Stewart on drums. Faster Pussycat's fourth and most recent studio album is 2006's The Power and the Glory Hole.

Back in its early days, Faster Pussycat symbolized the excesses of the Hollywood rock scene. The band appeared tamer tonight at the Bowery Electric, with Downe simply holding an unlit cigarette between his fingers throughout the show. From the first song, sexual innuendos established the temperature and riff-cracking rock and roll heightened the heat. The band honed its ragged edge with clear guitar leads, fuzz-infused chord changes, and a steady back beat, but it was Downe's scratchy vocals that led the charge. A bad-boy attitude projected from the stage, as Downe and the gang convincingly revisited the down and dirty spirit of the decadent 1980s. For just a little while there was a taste of 1987 in the air.

Visit Faster Pussycat at www.fasterpussycat.com.