Popular music, gender and sexuality

Abstract

On a cold winter evening in the mid-1990s a three-piece indie rock band named Kyzer Sozer performed at Liverpool's Lomax venue. There were around twenty or so people in the audience and most of them stood far back from the stage, clustering around the bar with pint glasses in hand and leaving the area in front of the stage quiet and deserted. This did not appear to bother the members of Kyzer Sozer and they launched energetically into a song entitled ‘Girls’. The band were well-rehearsed and ‘tight’ and the song revolved around a strong melody and dynamic variations in volume and pace, beginning with a softly strummed electric guitar accompanied by the deep throbbing beat of a Fender bass and bass drum, and then shifting to a slightly distorted riff-driven guitar sound that built up to a crescendo for the finale. Darren altered his powerful and resonant singing voice accordingly, varying its pitch and timbre. He had a shaved head and wore a feather boa and silver trousers which accentuated the twists of his body as he played the guitar and stretched towards the microphone. Chris stood beside him in training shoes, black jeans and a leather jacket that swung open to reveal a scarlet bra and bare stomach. Her hair flopped over one side of her face and shone as she accompanied her basslines with nods of her head. Sam sat at the back of the stage in a black shirt and purple velvet trousers that were largely obscured from view by his drum kit.