Girl in a Coma at HoMosaic - Los Angeles || 10.17

"Girl in a Coma is a rock band from San Antonio, Texas--land of puffy tacos, Lone Star beer, and the place where Ozzy pissed on the Alamo."
[Photo Credit: Sarah Quiara]

They had me at "puffy tacos." But the real love connection was sparked by their name, GIRL IN A COMA: an homage to The Smiths' anthemic ear candy, "Girlfriend in a Coma." Much has been said in recent years in movies, local weeklies, blogs and beyond, about the legions of devout Latino/a Smiths fans throughout Southern California and the Southwest. Even I entered the fray by rocking some critical karaoke stylings to "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" in my day job scriblings about queer of color suburban imaginaries and the Butchlalis de Panochtitlan's own autopian soundscape. [R: BdP driving in your car...]

Needless to say, I was stoked not only to have been alerted to this trio of San Antonian rocker grrrls and self-identified queer Latina Smiths fans through the email grapevine (thanks to "Kunmora Lee Simmons"), but also for the chance to see them live in Hollywood at the HoMosaic Queer Music Festival on October 17, 2007. CBB and I rolled out with DJ Un-G. After a little car bar action with Mr. Jim Ador, we hustled in to the Dragonfly bar to hear these headliners rock our eardrums off.

Girl in a Coma consists of two childhood chums, Jenn Alva (bass) and Phanie Diaz (drums), as well as Phanie's pesky little sister, guitarist and PoMo chanteuse, Nina, who is 8 years their junior. Pals since they met in an eighth grade art class, Jenn and Phanie solidified their bond by sitting in their bedrooms listening and singing along to records. Nina lurked in the bunkbed shadows, watching, listening, learning as her "elders" listened to The Smiths and Nirvana. At the tender age of 12, Nina mustered up the courage to play a little ditty she wrote for Jenn and Phanie. As the legend goes, "Girl in a Coma was formed that night."
[Photo Credit (L): Michael Rubenstein]

All those years of faithfully re-enacting songs that rock and sway in their childhood bedrooms sure paid off. During their set at the Dragonfly, the rhythm section was solid and air-tight, but cut with just enough adolescent urgency to offer the soul some spiritually gratifying mess. Sonorously hollering over the pugnacious punk rhythms and deliciously elaborate (dare I say it?) John Taylor-esque walking bass lines, were Nina Diaz's radiantly raspy vocals. Nina has been compared to every sexy indie singer of the last couple of decades from Karen O., to Bjork, to the Moz himself. But sooth to say she is a swoony, low-voiced wonder unto herself. One can only imagine what her preternaturally mature voice will sound like in another couple of years.

As much as I enjoy the band's more kinetic numbers like "Clumsy Sky" and "Say" (reportedly Morrissey's favorite tracks from their 2007 debut album, Both Before I'm Gone), I'm a sucker for their softer, more embraceable melodies like "Road to Home":


As of this posting, Girl in a Coma aren't quite on the road to home. They're still on tour earning their keep, only now they're opening for none other than that charming man himself, MORRISSEY. If you ask me (and that's why you're reading, right?) this fan crossover/success story is infinitely cooler than Marky Mark's in Rock Star (2001). If for some reason you miss GIAC on tour with the Moz--their final show together is in Miami, FL at The Filmore on November 8--catch a glimpse below of GIAC during a simpler time just a few short months ago, performing "Their Cell" in the suburban habitat of the South Park Mall back home in San Antone. Ask Media Sheep about the Hedwigian overtones of this video. - (KT):