SOLO FANTASY
Mary Jane Dunphe takes the stage alone on her debut solo album.
In 2015, I remember watching an intense set by the Olympia punk band Vexx, a band that Mary Jane Dunphe fronted with a middle ground between dancing, flailing her arms about, and emitting vein-bulging screams. During the set, she got a nasty bump on the head—I can only assume from some overzealous mosh monster, falsely egged on by her wild style. After the show, I remember seeing her slumped down, still sweating in the back of the van. CC Dust, and then CCFX, were bands that followed, gaining international attention for their poignant post-punk melancholy and danceable rhythms, rather than fast guitars. While the projects have changed, one thing has stayed the same: Dunphe commands the full attention of any room she steps in.
It’s a skill that has its downsides.
