Scene and Heard

Another Teeth Mountain Sham?

Photos by Joe Perez » What exactly happened Sunday night at Death by Audio? Were the mildly traumatized Teeth Mountain fans seeing theater, or did the fun actually turn into bad blood? Because there was actually blood.

Text by Jeremy Krinsley
Posted on March 02, 2010

Friends having a good time.

jonathan coward

Jonathan Coward and Brian Narwhalz kissing Very convincing neck grab, by Jonathan Coward.

blissed out

Human Resources (Disclosure: That's me.)

Human Resources band brooklyn Teeth Mountain, pre-attack

Try Cry Try

For those who missed it, Teeth Mountain's Kate Levitt and Sham's Jonathan Coward recently settled a supposed cat-killing-by-thrown-TV conflict on daytime TV's very own Judge Judy. Since then, they've been mum on the relative veracity of the whole thing, though most close observers knew at first glance that it was a very clever, comedic stunt. (One that bummed the Judge Judy fans among us who really thought that "dueling wedding date bowling alley assaults" happen [episode 3705].)

So cue ten minutes into Teeth Mountain's ecstatic set. It's boiling over with percussive attack and billowing electronics, and there's Jonathan Coward, throwing beer and cigarette butts at the performers, and then there he is again, onstage, making out with his boyfriend, and then oh look, he's throwing percussionist Greg Fox's shit all over the place, and now he's going for Kate Levitt's neck, which he gets, and the two half-struggle, half-pirouette around the stage. Can't tell if we're seeing a grimace or a grin. If you thought it was a joke, it was hilarious, until someone's hand got cut open.

And even if you had heard murmurings prior to the fight that it might happen, you were probably disturbed by the intensity when it actually went down.

The band members seemed too shaken, or maybe just too pissed, to go on. "That's some Baltimore bullshit," went the mumbling, from someone. This is where one could argue that with the walls of "authenticity" in music-making crumbling, performative violence is the same as any other kind, as long as people get hurt, right?

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Lol@ hipster douchbags! Talentless, sad little poseurs with no jobs and no future! Please OD soon. The world does not need any of you.

— Blammo on March 04, 2010

this post by jeremy krinsley was edited from when it originally posted.

— huh? on March 03, 2010

All I know is at one point I looked up and all my stuff was thrown all over the place. I didn't see it happen. I said some harsh things about what went down, off the cuff, but ultimately there's no reason to contribute anything more to it besides silence and/ or positivity. In the days since it happened I've started feeling better about it. Nobodys gear is broken. And the video of it all going down is, to say the least, quite the artifact. Sometimes shit gets real even on stage.

— G on March 03, 2010

try cry try was incredible.

— bloop on March 03, 2010

Damn, had to have my hands on dat phone. I was plugged into Teeth Mountain's mixer playin this sik dub siren app. You want me to buy you one? An iPhone that is, its the 3rd one I have bought this year I could prolly spring to get you one also. H8RZ H8 ON. There just aint enough negativity at the farmers market.

— Jonathan Coward on March 03, 2010

I'M OVER IT.

— Sister5 on March 03, 2010

I don't even know what to say, to be honest.

— k8 on March 03, 2010

i must say that picture of shams and narwhalz making out with bernie playing sax in the background is the best pic i've ever seen.

— gf on March 02, 2010

Wow... two drops of blood

— speculator on March 02, 2010

johnny sierra didnt arbitrate shit, he smashed the glass on brian's head. very sad night in my life and the life of teeth mountain.

— andrew bernstein on March 02, 2010

sometimes those who are friends with people on stage cant take the fact that they aren't the ones being paid attention to.