UP FROM DOWN UNDER. She sings! She dances! Well...that's a matter of opinion. But she's known as Singing Sadie, the retrovintagepunk wonder from down under. She'll be appearing with Al Duvall at The Back Door (485 Dean Street at Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn) on Friday night at 9:00 pm.

I wasn't sure what to make of Singing Sadie when I first heard her dirty ditties on WFMU. On the one hand, her music sounded like it was welling out of the 1930s, complete with tap dancing, big band arrangements, and the kind of coarse but spunky vocal belting that could've come out of the mouth of a bratty kid sister in an old cartoon or movie. (Imagine something along the lines of Virginia Weidler in The Philadelphia Story.)

But then there were the lyrics, such as the perky "Dance because you're chirpy./I hope you get herpes./I'd like to see an axe inside your head." That's right: We're talking about a very strange genre here, punky parodies of big band novelties.

That formula probably won't put Singing Sadie on America's Top Forty. As James Allenspach puts it on his Outsider Music blog, empty-handed.com, "There are two types of people. Those who are going to be charmed by Singing Sadie, a woman from Sydney, Australia who sings her own rude lyrics (and tap dances) over songs sampled from old old big band arrangements of popular tunes, and those who are not going to be amused."

I don't even know if I'd really like a full album or concert of this stuff. But being that Singing Sadie has traveled all from Sydney and I've definitely enjoyed her music in snatches, I'm very tempted to behold her act myself. Plus, Al Duvall's retrofolkpunk seems pretty good, too. Sample lyrics: "I don't like you, William Knave./I don't like you, William Knave./You could change your name to Jesus Christ/And still I'd spit on your grave./You ruined my business with your vicious lie./You took your greasy thumb and plumb put out my eye./You poisoned my dog and threw him down my well./You tend to make my life a miserable hell."

Some links:

Al Duvall's website
Al Duvall at Myspace (includes audio files)
Singing Sadie on Irwin Chusid's WFMU show (extended audio)
AV footage (some profanity) of Singing Sadie singing "Let's Call Her Lil"