St Valentine’s Day Massacre - Baby MachineVee Bees (self released)
The pairing of Wollongong’s female tearaways Babymachine with Queanbeyan-via-the-Gong-and-inner-western-Sydney yobs The VeeBees for this three-song, 10-inch EP fell out of a Lemmy tribute bill a few yars ago on which both bands appeared. It’s a match made, not in heaven, but the back bar of the Sunset Strip's Rainbow Bar and Grill.
Taking a leaf out of the book written by Motorhead and Girlschool, “St Valentine’s Day Massacre” mixes the bloodlines, if not the bodily fluids, of two bands with a similar spirit. The result is a song by each act and one joint effort. Babymachine tackles “Bomber” while the VeeBees put paid to Girlchool’s “Emergency”. The A side, “Please Don’t Touch”, is a lesser-known Johnny Kidd and the Pirates number.
It's no mean feat successfully covering Motorhead and the Machine's take on "Bomber" scorches, with some fearsome guitar by Bec. The engine room of Kristy and Bee sounds relentless. The VeeBees bring a swagger to "Emergency" that the original lacked, while retaining their own ragged sound. Davo's snaking guitar takes it out in righteous style.
With so many hopping on board there might not have been any room to breathe on "Please Don't Touch", but the bands democratically divided the labour with half of the complement limiting themselves to backing vocals. Vocalists Norro and a worse-for-wear sounding Bec trade time in the spotlight, with Bec and Davo doing the same on guitar.
