Last November, when the New York City electro quartet Brazilian Girls left the stage of Ball & Chain after a fantastic set that had the crowd chanting, "Pussy, pussy, pussy, marijuana" (the chorus of the band's single "Pussy"), singer Sabina Sciubba promised that the band would come back to Miami soon.
"It looked like I was bleeding between the legs and from my heart."
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At the time, their return seemed an unlikely proposition, because that gig was one of just a few live shows the group had played in ages. But here we are, almost exactly a year later, and Brazilian Girls have remained true to their word.
"It has a lot to do with our friend Gordon Myers, who leads the band the Hongs," Sciubba tells New Times. "He's been basically bringing us over to Miami, and we can never resist his call."
If that's true, Miamians should write Myers a thank-you note or at least show up early at the North Beach Bandshell this Friday for the Hongs' opening set.
None of the members of Brazilian Girls is actually Brazilian, and Sciubba is the only girl among the bunch, but in spite of the false advertising, from 2005 through 2008, Brazilian Girls released three albums that were guaranteed to start a party no matter how stodgy the occasion.
Sciubba, drummer Aaron Johnston, keyboardist Didi Gutman, and bassist Jesse Murphy make up a rare group without a guitarist. Yet that doesn't stop them from creating the sound and hedonistic vibe of a 21st-century Blondie.
But since the release of their 2008 LP, New York City, they have been mum. The Italian-born Sciubba last year released a critically acclaimed solo album, Toujours, but as a band, Brazilian Girls has been disappointingly quiet. Fortunately, Sciubba says that fact is about to change. "The album is finished. We're setting up a release and putting together the right team to give it a good shot."
Though they were never released, the new songs the band played at last year's Miami concert had a jazzier, more laid-back, cocktail-lounge vibe. The tracks sounded a bit less debaucherous than the previous work, which makes sense because the group's members, including Sciubba, have started families since they last stepped into a recording studio.
"It's been a crazy ride, and one can never quite fit all one's stories into the songs, but definitely the moods and stories of the last couple of years are there."
One of those stories, she says, inspired the song "Critic."
"We played a show in New York where I had the glorious idea to make a white outfit with paint-filled balloons, which I pierced during the show so it looked like I was bleeding between the legs and from my heart. It was an image to depict my physical and sentimental growing pains. One man, an amateur music critic, wrote an awfully mean critique about it. We got together with our friend Barry Reynolds and came up with the lyrics. We basically murder the critic in the song. Good fun."
House of Creatives, With Brazilian Girls and the Hongs 5 p.m. Friday, November 6, at the North Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 305-672-5202; northbeachbandshell.com. Tickets cost $20 plus fees via eventbrite.com.
