Rant 'N' Roll: Schmekel – Transgender Jewish Punks
—by Mike Greenblatt, February 10, 2012
http://www.theaquarian.com/2012/02/10/rant-n-roll-schmekel-transgender-jewish-punks/It's a safe bet to say that there's never been a band like Schmekel (Yiddish for small penis). Guitarist Lucian Kahn, keyboardist Ricky Riot, bassist Nogga Schwartz and drummer Simcha Halpert-Hanson are all dudes, they're all Jewish, and they were all born as girls. Their music is a bastardized combo of punk-rock, Klezmer (Jewish jazz), polka and comedy (Frank Zappa meets Henny Youngman) but much more profane. Influenced as much by early gay punk band Pansy Division as topical folksinger Tom Lehrer, they've been together for two years performing at colleges, benefits and local clubs in their Manhattan and Brooklyn hometowns. Queers On Rye is the self-released debut (TransJews.com).
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The key is humor. "Jews respond to trauma with humor," explains Kahn. "I grew up watching Mel Brooks make fun of Nazis and dressing up in ridiculous Purim costumes to celebrate narrowly escaping genocide. I fell in love with my boyfriend because he was raised on funeral jokes. It's taken me about 10 years of floating around different Queer communities to really wrap my head around the fact that my irreverent response to abuse, sickness, danger, pain, oppression and death is distinctly Jewish."
