PROFILES

Alicja Trout

Her music: Midtowner Alicja Trout, 38, made her musical reputation via the Clears, her late 1990s synth-pop group, and solidified her status with Lost Sounds, which, from 2000 to 2004, pushed the boundaries of punk rock to darkly maniacal heights. Trout’s current musical projects include Destruction Unit and Black Sunday (primarily recording studio bands); the retro girl group-inspired Ultracats; the moody pop ensemble Mouserocket; and her most successful outfit to date, River City Tanlines. Offstage, Trout is a tireless presence on the local music scene, both as a studio producer and as the proprietor of her own label, Contaminated Records.


In $5 Cover: Trout showcases the dual sides of her real-life persona, both as a first-time mom and as the no-nonsense front woman for River City Tanlines, a garage-punk power trio that provides the raucous soundtrack for a skirmish on the local roller derby rink. Featured song: “I’m Your Negative.”


In $5 Cover Amplified: Trout evaluates her relationship with her conservative-minded parents as she strives to teach her daughter the value of self-worth.


On Memphis music: “Memphis is sort of a vacuum: Our music ends up more pure and raw because it’s not really made for public appeal.”


Latest news: Expect a compilation CD from Trout’s side project, Black Sunday, on Contaminated Records this summer.


--Andria Lisle


River City Tanlines
Contaminated Records



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$5 Cover Amplified Summary:

Intimate, thoughtful, always entertaining and often formally daring, the 12 documentaries that comprise the anthology "$5 Cover Amplified" reveal a modern Memphis music scene that is as creative, passionate and vibrant as in the city's commercial heyday, when Elvis, Isaac Hayes and Al Green demonstrated that visionary art and popular culture could be inseparable as the 'A' and 'B' sides of a vinyl record.

Produced as a complement to Craig Brewer's episodic MTV drama series/ new media experiment, "$5 Cover," the "Amplified" series of documentary portraits chronicles the rousing art, uncertain careers and sometimes problematic home lives of a diverse, distinctive and often eccentric group of Memphis music-makers.

Mesmerizing Valerie June croons confessional lyrics from beneath a Medusan tangle of dreadlocks that's as thick as her family ties and her musical roots. The puckish Tommy Chong-meets-Pippi Longstocking "clown prince of rap," Muck Sticky, proves to be as dedicated to the welfare of his mother and sister as to his own pursuit of happiness. Punk rock pioneer Jack Oblivian, who plays to sell-out nightclub crowds in Europe, makes ends meet in Memphis by cleaning houses. "Crunk" hip-hop artist Al Kapone is shown to be a tough but loving father, bringing new urgency to the concept of rapper as "role model." Troubadour of heartbreak Harlan T. Bobo is portrayed impressionistically, through stop-motion animation, allegorical fantasy and other conceits.

Whatever the focus or style, the direction of Alan Spearman, an award-winning photographer/filmmaker with The Commercial Appeal, ensures that each segment is as visually assured as it is musically irresistible. "$5 Cover Amplified" was co-produced by Spearman, Andria Lisle and John Hubbell, and edited by Eileen Meyer; their familiarity with the Memphis "scene" ensures unprecedented authenticity as well as access.

John Beifuss- The Commercial Appeal