MO’BOOTY

Mo’Booty Credit: Michelle Blades

Chill, rump-shaking surf-rock is the MO of Mo’Booty, a supergroup of Miami scenemakers consisting of local music photographer-guitarist Monica McGivern, Alexandre ‘Booty’ Merbouti (experimental jazz act Seafoam Walls, post-punk foursome The Bearings) and Colombian drummer Danny Calle (Miami punk wizards The Cost).

The trio’s garage surf-punk project came together in the Miami home studio of noise-rock pioneer and Churchill’s Pub habitué Frank ‘Rat Bastard’ Falestra, where McGivern would shoot photos of visiting local bands. Fascinated with playing music instead of documenting it, she swapped her DSLR for a bass guitar, and learned to jam long enough to attract the attention of Merbouti and, soon after, Calle. The trio then schlepped around the South Florida music scene in search of gigs. Their washed-out lo-fi experimentation is what SXSW audiences discovered in March when the three-piece performed an impromptu set at Hotel Vegas in Austin, Tex., opposite bigger names such as Thee Oh Sees, the Blank Tapes, Hinds and Tijuana Panthers.

Credit: Chad Perna

Listen to Mo’Booty’s scorching single “90 Degrees,” off the three-track release “Bedroom Demos” on their Bandcamp page, and it sounds like a crossbreeding of David Lynch’s “Lost Highway,“ Dick Dale on acid and a Humphrey Bogart gumshoe film noir. Against Calle’s methodical drumming rhythm and McGivern’s reverb-drenched bass is Booty’s Leonard Cohen-style baritone, which he uses to shout and harmonize with a low growl. On “O.K.,” another track from the same release, the trio sound indecipherable as they drone in unison against a tight, grungy wall of noise that erupts into a loud, mortarlike sonic shrill. Mo’Booty, torchbearers of a brand of self-described “psychedelic surf noir” rarely played in South Florida (save, perhaps, for guitar heroes Gold Dust Lounge), has remained busy in the eight months since their inception, booking shows at Swampspace Gallery in Miami, Dada in Delray Beach and, later this October, at Wynwood’s III Points Festival. The trio also maintains an active Tumblr account, a home for McGivern’s sharp tour photos, concert reviews, music videos and hand-drawn gig posters.

Mo’Booty will perform at Aug. 25 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. Doors 11pm. Openers are Stoop Kids and Ates Isildak, along with DJs Marvelous Kendall, JJ Contramus and Ozwaldus. No cover. They also play BUMBLEFEST on September 17!

~ Phillip Valys