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First you have the SugarTwins, Holly and Honey, easily the ginchiest girl group in Boston today. The songs say it all. Just imagine not liking a song called 'Patio A Go Go," or not succumbing to the lusty chorus of "The Right Stuff", in which the sisters wail: "Sam Shepard gonna make me lose my mind!"
Their first CD. which features some of the guys in Four Piece Suit, comes out next month on the latter's record label, Swang. (Most of the Suits will also be backing up the Sugars at The Beachcomber. So you see, there are tie-ins galore.) And the Sugar Twins really do put on a fun show, always affable, very attentive to their audience, expressively coifed and costumed. Yes, this is what show business is all about.
Four Piece Suit put out its second CD, "Matinee Idylls" earlier this year. Milt Reder, David Sholl, Dean Cassell, and Lorne Entress first got together as Savages, as in "Barence Whitfield and the..." and then started the all-instrumental Suits in 1996. They're all fine musicians, especially guitarist Reder, who more than proves his mettle on the new CD, on a scorching track called "Bender".
It's true that both bands have been linked to lounge music in the past, which is one of my least favorite revivals; so why do I still like these guys? Well, because Four Piece Suit can really play, and the Sugar Twins are both funny and personable, as I found when I spoke with them last week at (inflatable) poolside. Their habit of frequently saying everything in unison is most endearing, as was Honey's comment on recently achieving motherhood: "I was barefoot, and I got pregnant, but I got my shoes on now, baby!"
Note: To track down this story to its living animal essence, I decided to eploy an unusal and probaly even innovative method: I asked each band exactly the same questions, then graded the results. (Let's face it, some of their answers were just plain wrong.) Some may say that grading celebrities on their interviews is a little pushy, but I say we should've started this a long time ago.
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#1 Where is Cape Cod?
Holly: Around the corner
Honey: Drive south of Boston until your hat floats
Milt: Anywhere you can enjoy a lobster stew at a table with an ocean view.
#2 Do you have a dog?
Holly: Two pussy cats
Honey: Two step-dogs.
Milt: No. I wish I did. A poodle. Napolean brought poodles from Russia. I have four parrots.
#3 How do you dispose of the ticks?
Holly: I flush 'em.
Honey: Burn 'em. I also burn fleas.
Milt: Birds don't get ticks; they get fleas. I strangle the fleas, individually.
[Note: On question #2: some of the actual answers have been changed or altered to make them more exciting.]
#4 What's the fattest dog you've ever had?
Holly & Honey: We've never had a fat animal of any kind.
Milt: My best friend in school had a beagle that weighed more than 600 pounds.
#5 What are you wearing?
 Holly & Honey: Shorts and tank tops! [They sing "Too Darn Hot" then "Land of 1000 Dances."]
Milt: Pants.
#6 What time is it?
Holly & Honey: It's party time!
Milt: It's about 20 after one.
#7 Is there a god?
Holly: Yes.
Honey: No.
Milt: Oh yeah!
For the bonus question I asked Honey to tell me something about all over the country and then the circus went under. There was a big fire and our poodles were killed in the fire. But we're still very close. They're very supportive and our mom makes all our clothes."
Milt's bonus question was "Did you ever have the clam chowder at P.J.'s?" to which he answerd, correctly, "Yes."
I gave Milt an 82. While most of his answers were thoiughtful and awarded the twins an 87, mostly because of the circus stuff.
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Let's just get right to our top story, which is that both Four Piece Suit & the Sugar Twins are coming to the Wellfleet Beachcomber Aug. 14. I think this might be the show this sumer that really puts the "g" in "Delightful!" What I'm saying is, having these two fine soundin' Boston bands on one bill both separately & intermingled, their very species changing and mutating right before your very eyes, is an exceptionally good value.