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I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Life's a bitch and then you marry one." But in the case of Atlanta's self-proclaimed "supergroup" of the same name, Bitch is a way of life that includes rocking hard and partying even harder.
If you've never caught them at one of their weekly Wednesday night shows at 9 Lives Saloon, Bitch plays all cover songs by the likes of AC/DC, Motorhead, and other legendary rock acts. Before you go labeling this group as just another cover band, the almighty Bitch sounds as good as any of the bands it covers and lives the life like real rock stars. And that's because they are more than rock stars - they are Bitch. So, if Bitch is so good, why is it a cover band?
"If we wrote a better song - which we haven't - we'd play it," says guitarist Ted Lathangue, who sports Spinal Tap-like whiskers and is responsible for the between-song banter at Bitch's shows. "Yeah, we play cover songs, but I've yet to see many bands that can write a better song than the music we play. Whether that's local, national, whatever - when you talk about rock 'n' roll, AC/DC, Motorhead, and the Stones ... enough said."
"Even AC/DC can't write better songs than the AC/DC songs that we do," adds lead guitarist James Wright, who also performs with the Evils and Witches Brew.
"They've made a career out of covering their first three records," Ted continues, "as has Motorhead."
The Bitch saga began back in 1999 when the band did a show celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Rolling Stones/Altamont incident.
"We did an entire Stones set from the '69 tour from beginning to end," Ted recalls. "We had the Spectremen dressed as Hell's Angels. We recreated the stabbing, all in costume, the whole thing, and we just called it Bitch. And we enjoyed it so much we decided to keep the name. When it gets right down to it, it stuck because we're fuckin' lazy."
James finds an even better reason for keeping the name:
"When you go to a gas station and a lady asks you, 'Ya'll in a band?' You go, 'Yeah' and she says, 'What's the name of it?' And you go, 'BITCH!'"
Bitch recently returned to Atlanta from its U.S. tour, which consisted of Atlanta and Winston-Salem's Heavy Rebel Weekender event held last month. Because of the band's "supergroup" status, even such a short tour provided plenty of tour stories.
"The thing is, when you're a fucking supergroup like we are - and I underline the word "supergroup" - two days is the equivelent of two months on the road to any lesser band," Ted boasts, in true rock star fashion.
This tour also provided a new nickname for drummer Dave E. Gara, who also plays in the band Vagrant.
"Cookie-britches on the drums," says Ted with a laugh. "He woke up with cookies in his ass in North Carolina. We got stopped at the border and [the officer] strip-searched our drummer [and found cookies and fireworks]. I've never seen a strip search performed with an officer's tongue. That was weird."
In addition to Ted, James, and, er, Cookie-britches, Bitch also includes Tyson Herring on vocals, Gary Yoxen of the X-Impossibles on guitar, and Fred McNeal of Mason Dixon on bass. As proof that all the members have some input as to which bands will be covered during a Bitch set, Fred led the band through a David Bowie tune during the band's first Atlanta show after the big tour on July 11.
"He has a velvet hat, you know. He's definitely Faster Freddycat," Ted says of his band-mate. "Fred's been known to wear some eyeliner."
"We're like all the great supergroups - KISS, Guns n' Roses - to where each member has their own identity [and] the fan base picks up on who's your favorite," Ted continues.
And, like all supergroups, one of Bitch's great aspirations is to do big interviews such as this one.
"Anybody in any band that says they haven't thought about doing an interview is a fucking liar," says Ted.
"I've waited 36 years for this moment," confesses James.
I guess that explains why Bitch is such an easy interview.
"We've been told we're easy," concludes Ted.
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