Love Shack, baby

Geoff Carter

Thursday, June 17, 1999 | 6:13 a.m.

First published January 1, 1996.

I knew exactly two things about Love Shack before I saw the local group in action at the Shark Club.

One: Love Shack performs covers of 1980s pop hits to drunken party people.

Two: Love Shack is comprised of musicians I admire: Tiffany and Tony Fredianelli from Herbody Cinnamon and Majik Alex respectively, and Matt Chernoff (now in 12-Volt Sex), Shaun Flannery, Jarrid Mendelson, and Tyler Nelson from Hostage Symphony. You may not recognize them in their wigs, but rest assured - they're the same people.

The band members take the stage in theatrical costume: Shaun as Billy Idol, Jarrid as Depeche Mode eraserhead Martin Gore, Tyler as Adam Ant, Tony as Prince, Tiffany as the B-52's Kate Pierson, and perhaps most surreal of all, Matt as Devo iconoclast Mark Mothersbaugh. Not surprisingly, the band opens their first set with a frenetic version of "Whip It."

"Come down and dance," howls Matt. "Lose a few excess pounds."

The band doesn't just play the songs; they channel the spirit. If it's a cover of "I Wanna Be Sedated", Matt adopts Joey Ramone's split-leg warrior pose and belts out. Tony performs "What I Like About You" better than the yahoos that recorded it the first time. And for Blondie's "One Way or Another," Tiffany borrows Debbie Harry's entire manner - the tough-girl stance, the playful, sexy charm.

So what made the members of Love Shack decide to start an Eighties cover group when the Eighties were, in fact, five years ago?

"Well, we were in dire need of...anything," says Matt.

"We had heard rumors of how much money (1970s cover band) the Boogie Knights were making," says Shaun, "Having been starving musicians for the past six years...you know, the issue of being a sellout had already been considered."

"Yeah, I was totally excited," Tiffany says. "The Eighties was what I grew up to, what we all grew up to..."

"She provided us with all the music we learned," Matt cuts in.

"Every album, every 45," agrees Tiffany. "It all happened so quick! But everybody was really determined and really excited about it, which made it even better."

"We had a full show together in three weeks," says Matt. Thus was born the first 1980s "novelty band" (Matt's words) in Las Vegas, already followed by at least two others - one of them created by the Boogie Knights' corporate administrating arm.

It's a foregone conclusion that more 1980s bands will follow, but have they got the experience Love Shack has? The footwork, for example?

"In junior high, I was a breakdancer," says Jarrid.

"You should do that in the show," Shaun chucked.

"No, those times are gone. I'd probably hurt my back today."

"I did it, too," confesses Shaun. "Except I was really 'white' at it, and I didn't succeed. My parachute pants ripped, and that was the end of it."

Tiffany is shocked. "You tried to breakdance?"

Matt and Shaun's pedigrees were less physical than Jarrid's, but equally intensive. "I spent the Eighties glued to MTV," says Shaun. "All the music we play reflects that."

"I once altered the words to (Duran Duran's) 'The Reflex' for Mother's Day. Please don't quote me on that."

The room gasps.

"What did you do?" Tiffany asks.

"Something to the note of, "My mother, ta-na-na-na...' I remember singing it in the schoolyard, telling everybody how excited I was to present my mother with this song.

"Duran Duran had a big influence on Hostage Symphony, during our early development. We were very materialistically impressionable at the time, and they carried this persona of wealth and fame and girls. We were all very much into that."

And now Love Shack has become Duran Duran, after a fashion. The band's popularity is on the rise, generating gigs all over the west (particularly Phoenix, where the 1980s are still going on), and at least a dozen women blow kisses at Matt during any given set (though Matt, happily married, is only in it for the money.) Doesn't it ever feel strange?

"It feels strange every night we're on stage," says Matt. "It beats washing dishes."

"No offense to those who wash dishes," Tony adds.

None taken. Still, the message is clear enough; this is a bread and butter group, designed to support the musicians in their other endeavors. It's upsetting to see Tiffany dressed up as Terri Nunn rather than in the glitter and silks she wears for a Herbody Cinnamon performance, or to hear crap like "I Ran" and "The Safety Dance" issuing from Matt's exquisite pipes.

But if any of this bothers the members of Love Shack, you wouldn't know it by watching them play. Every Thursday, they knock the roof off the Shark Club--and the crowd, drunk with nostalgia, volunteers their help.

"I'm so glad to see so many people on the dance floor, losing inches off their waistline," howls Matt, in his goofy flowerpot hat. And the drunks, properly encouraged, work off Thanksgiving.