OZZY OSBOURNE will always be known for biting the head off a bat. Led Zeppelin and the mud shark incident will forever remain in infamy.
It’s only a matter of time before Gravy Train!!!!’s backstage antics involving a bag of urine and a “Fear Factor”-inspired dare make their way onto a VH1 countdown.
Mix a twist of ’80s-inspired hip-hop with a pinch of electro (think J.J. Fad meets Peaches) and you have Oakland’s raucous foursome, a gang of burger-loving, sexually-charged, raunchy rappers that’s like a John Waters film in the flesh. Armed with razor-sharp tongues and cheesy dance beats, Gravy Train!!!! commands the stage with the sass and lack of class of Miss Divine herself.
Currently on tour promoting their new album “Are You Wigglin?,” members Chunx, Funx, Hunx and Junx return to Oakland on Saturday to play the Lobot Gallery with V.I.P. and The Husbands. They remain tight-lipped about what’s in store for the home crowd, but admit that they have a few tricks up their sleeves.
“It’ll be wild. I promise,” says singer Chunx, who prefers to go by her alter-ego moniker.
It’s hard to take a band seriously that’s named after a can of dog food and rap about burgers and booze, but the trash-talking 20-somethings are here to party, not to preach. Gravy Train!!!!’s M.O. is all about having fun and getting some.
“I hate anything that takes itself too seriously. We don’t write about anything heavy. We save that for the emo bands,” says Chunx during a phone interview from New Orleans.
Chunx and keyboardist Funx are the masterminds behind the band, which began in 2001 while the pair watched daytime television and lamented over boys. Burned by yet another lover, Chunx began rapping about her romantic foibles. Funx added the beats and the rest is history.
“We were just going to be this band who crashed parties and then we made it to the big time,” says backup-dancer Hunx.
House shows turned into real gigs and local label SPAM records soon picked up the band. In 2003, Kill Rock Stars, the label famous for Sleater Kinney and Bikini Kill, got wind of Gravy Train!!!! and immediately signed the band.
Following the release of “Hello Doctor” Gravy Train!!!! said goodbye to fly-girl Drunx. The reason for her departure remains hush-hush, but Hunx is quick to say, “We’re all a lot happier now.”
In search of a replacement, the threesome held dancer tryouts at Hunx’s Oakland home and eventually discovered Junx. The guitar-playing backup dancer rounds out the band into a 50/50 boy-girl split, into what Hunx calls “the perfect family.”
Beyond Gravy Train!!!!’s vulgar lyrics and crude Casio beats, fans bring the band particular notoriety. Supporters arrive to shows decked out in outrageous costumes, from hot pants to skivvies to gold chains and home-made T-shirts.
While Gravy Train!!!! lasciviously works the crowd like a boy band does a teen dance party, with pelvises thrusting to old-school favorites like “Burger Baby” and the he-said she-said anthem “You Made Me Gay,” nothing compares to fans’ attempts to bring the raunchy songs to life with scandalous synchronized dance routines.
Underage fans never cease to surprise the band.
“This one time we played Gilman there was this 15-year-old girl who jumped onstage with a can of whipped cream and sprayed it on Funx’s boobs and licked it off. Later that night we saw her get picked up by her mom in a mini-van,” says Hunx, laughing.
Even though the band has devoted fans, critics mostly have been unkind to Gravy Train!!!! “Are You Wigglin?” has been likened to a “head-on collision between a school bus and a carload of coked-up strippers.”
It’s that kind of response that fuels their fire, says Chunx, who plans on incorporating the bad press into future songs.
“It gets annoying, that’s all. I mean, this isn’t a carbon copy of our other album. This one is poppy, toned down a bit. We thought this was going to be our ‘OK Computer’ or something. I know we’re no Radiohead, but this was our serious album,” jokes Chunx.
Undeterred by unfavorable reviews, Gravy Train!!!! will continue to give critics something to write about, as a group and as individual artists. Chunx has a solo album in the works; Junx and Hunx plan on combining their solo efforts into a package deal.
While on the subject of “package deals,” Junx and Hunx have been approached by Playgirl and will pose for the magazine when the current leg of the tour wraps up.
“It’s crazy everything that’s happened. We never set out to be this band that makes it big or anything. We’re just here to have fun and dance,” says Chunx.
