Photos of Mrs. Hobbs & Amber Lee Baker in the print version of the LA Weekly. Article by Shana Nys Dambrot also available on LAWeekly.com.

March 21, 2013

FASTER PUSSYCAT! SQUEEZE! SQUEEZE! It’s been a while now since a new generation of alt-folk and nouveau-cabaret musicians rescued the accordion from the polka dustbin. But perhaps the most amazing thing about the accordion these days is how hot its female players it have gotten. Thanks to the considerable talents of crews like the L.A. Accordion Babes, this once-ridiculed and notoriously difficult instrument has somehow been reinvented as, like, what Betty Page played at sexy band camp. In their mistresses’ hands, these squawky boxes sing out melodies from the celestial to the gypsy-souled, the raucous to the heart-rending, the reinvented standard to the avant-garde original. The Accordion Babes Revue takes full advantage of its members’ fearless, real-woman, golden-throated beauty to put on a pretty wild show with no shortage of corsets and tattoos. And did we mention the women have their own pin-up calendar? To make absolutely sure they kick off their West Coast tour at maximum octane, they’ve invited to the stage not only the all-girl Circus Finelli, but also the equally badass performers of the Petting Pantry Burlesque, who pride themselves on the fierceness of their fishnet fantasy in a sort of Victoria’s Secret/roller-derby kind of way. Mama’s got a squeezebox; Daddy’s on his own tonight. Fais Do Do. 5257 W. Adams Blvd., West L.A. Fri., March 22, 9 p.m. $15/$10 advance. 2013-la-accordionbabesrevue.eventbrite.com. — By Shana Nys Dambrot http://www.voiceplaces.com/the-accordion-babes-the-petting-pantry-los-angeles-2025176-e/

OMG! There I am right in the middle of the homepage of the LA Weekly! For what, you say? For The Accordion Babes Revue in Los Angeles + The Petting Pantry! this Friday. See it yourself: http://www.laweekly.com/. Also, if you go to Calendar>Top Picks, you’ll find it listed there too, cuz that’s the kind of show this is gonna be. Woohoo!