Shannon Selberg

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Shannon Selberg is a noise/punk rock musician known for his unusual antics on stage. Formerly the frontman for the Minneapolis-based group The Cows, Selberg provided lead vocals, trumpet, bugle and hardcore guitar.[1][2] After the dissolution of The Cows in 1998, Selberg, described by Pitchfork Media as "the Crispin Glover of the noise rock community", moved on to New York noise-rock band, Heroine Sheiks,[3] where he has added keyboards to his repertoire.[4]

[edit] Performance persona

In its biography of The Cows, Allmusic credits Selberg's "squealing, shrieking, and general lunacy" as "the bizarre, often engaging, focus" of the band.[1] He is known for his "legendary" antics on stage, described by the Detroit Metro Times as a "demented roadside attraction".[5] His onstage behavior has included performing naked except for strategically placed shaving cream, performing with mousetraps "dangling from his ears",[3] wearing a business suit with stuffed animals at the crotch and a skin suit made from a love doll.[2] In a 1992 review, The New York Times assessed Selberg's stage wear as a visual counterpart to the music of his then band, the Cows, "merging defiance, pain and dark comedy".[6] Selberg's general presentation with The Cows was described as a mingling of "requisite menace and a disarmingly arch, lowbrow wit..., leveling both barrels at the oozing backalley/trailerpark underbelly of life.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b The Cows at Allmusic
  2. ^ a b Robbins, Ira and Robin Edgerton. Cows Trouser Press. Accessed October 4, 2007.
  3. ^ a b The Heroine Sheiks at Allmusic
  4. ^ a b Reid, Brendan. (February 10, 2003) Heroine Sheiks Siamese Pipe Pitchfork Media. Accessed October 4, 2007.
  5. ^ Metro Times staff. (October 20, 2004. Head cheese. Detroit Metro Times. Accessed October 4, 2007.
  6. ^ Pareles, Jon. (May 23, 1992). Defiance and dark comedy The New York Times. Accessed October 4, 2007.