With voices as angelic as this, the Soviettes sound like a bunch of pure-hearted teetotalers. But with the poppy-punk backing track that's nothing like the average pop-punker band—and a name that's gotta lead back to some heavy boozin'—it's pretty easy to figure out that Minneapolis' Soviettes (Sturgeon—a.k.a. Maren Macosko—on guitar, Susy Sharp on bass, Annie Holoien on guitar and lone dude Danny Henry on drums) live just as hard as they play. Remember: in Russia, hangover cures you!
OC Weekly: What's your last best band-binge story?
Annie Holoien: Our friend has a weekend every year where bands go and play and stay at his parents' fabulous house on a lake. We were in the hot tub, and someone would go, “To the lake!” So eight or nine of us were running down the hill, tripping over the dock. One guy hit his head, and I broke my toe. It couldn't have been more than 50 degrees outside. So it was kind of stupid. But . . . it was a great idea when we were drunk.
Do you guys have special drinks for special situations?
You get really tired on tour, and it seems like the only way we can get through every day is to drink, unfortunately—it takes away the pain from sleeping on hardwood floors.
So how do you cure a tour hangover?
A Bloody Mary. I once tried Alka Seltzer Morning Relief. Oh, my god, I almost had a heart attack. There's so much caffeine in it.
How many times have you sworn never to drink again?
Oh, god. Hundreds.
Even today?
I suppose when I woke up the morning after the lake thing—which I guess was yesterday morning—I was in pretty rough shape. But before I even got out of bed, I had a Bloody Mary handed to me. I thought, “Oh, my god, I can't do this anymore.” But I did.
The Soviettes perform with the Fleshies, Toys That Kill and The Phuzz at the Doll Hut, 107 S. Adams, Anaheim, (714) 533-1286. Wed., 9 p.m. $5. 21+.
