Thurs. Nov. 5

 Brian Viglione - the former Bostonian and drummer for Dresden Dolls (if it still exists) - finds himself in a new rock/dark cabaret project, Sam Ronsenthal's Black Tape For A Blue Girl, which headlines the Cantab Lounge Thursday Nov. 5. Viglione is not the percussionist here. He also plays guitar, bass and piano, but perhaps more importantly co-arranged and co-produced the album along with Rosenthal and Martin Bisi. What Viglione brings to the 20-year-old group on the new disc,"10 Neurotics," is drums and bass - meaning Black Tape - essentially a new band now - slides somewhat toward the rock band world. But just somewhat, sort of like Tom Waits or Serge Gainsbourg or Beat Circus. There's strange beauty and gloomy darkness, compulsion, revulsion and decadence. As former Spahn Ranch vocalist Athan Maroulis sings in "Tell Me You've Taken Another," a song of betrayal, "Yet there is a painful joy."  In "Sailor Boy," Maroulis sings of losing his feeling, his need for his lover, the result being I "lose myself in this puddle of drugs."
Rosenthal (in photo), who handles the electronics, words and music, says, "Many of the scenes take place in the fetish lifestyle: a culture of heightened sexuality, relationship dynamics, power and control. Naked and honest, they lie along the continuum from the erotic to the neurotic. I wrote from real life as a way to plug directly into the core of pure experience without filtering it. I developed something genuinely fresh and vital. These are poeple I have met, dated or created."
Maroulis handles most of the male vocals; Laruie Reade and Nicki Jaine handle the female vocals. And, yes, Rosenthal and company are creating a charged, sometimes spooky, very sexualized, male/female dynamic. (There's some stylishly provocative photos included in the CD insert booklet, too.) Black Tape for a Blue Girl does not bang you over the head. It insinuates its way into your brain and creates this world of pleasure and pain. The doors are at 8 and the show costs $10.
Support: Boston's Dreamchild is second on the bill, following MELT. Expect more dark cabaret and nightmarish visions from the Grand Guignol inspired duo. Faebotica has the closing spot.

738 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-354-2685 www.cantab-lounge.com
www.blacktapeforabluegirl.com www.dreamchild.com www.faebotica.com www.melttheband.com