Steve E. Nix – lead vocals, guitar
Brian Yeager – guitar, vocals
Duffy McGuire – vocals
Josh Kramer – drums, vocals
Prisilla Ray – vocals
Stevie Kicks – bass, vocals
Influences
Generation X, Mink DeVille, The Bureaucrats, Tom Robinson Band, Johnny Thunders, Pointed Sticks, Rudi, The Godfathers, The Clash, The Equals, The Sorrows, Rolling Stones, The Carpettes, The Briefs, Lou Reed, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, David Lee Roth, Newtown Neurotics, The Jazz Butcher, The Boys, Thelonious Monster, The Chords, The Purple Hearts, Eddie & the Hot Rods, The Faces, The Jacobites, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, The Stitches, Jonathan Richman, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, The Nips/Nipple Erectors, The Only Ones, Real Kids, The Zeros, Steve Perry(the true king of blue eyed soul!), Viva L'American Death Ray Music, The Undertones, Teenage Head, The Knack, "Boy's Town: Where there's no such thing as a bad boy!", The Fast Cars, The Damned, Split Screens, The Buzzcocks, The Vibrators, Jim Carroll Band, The Flys, Elvis Costello, The Girls, Stiff Records, Avenue Rose, The Pop Machine, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, The Forgotten Rebels, Nick Lowe, Wreckless Eric, The Avengers, Stiv Bators, The Plimsouls, The Lyres, The Boomtown Rats, Daniel Manus Pinkwater, Frogs, Rats, Capt Sensible............... I guess that's about it really.
To book The Cute Lepers please contact:
US Booking - Deborah at Devil Dolls Booking
European Booking - Mutti at Mutti's Booking
Other - please contact the band through MySpace
Once formed by Steve E. Nix, The Cute Lepers made a beeline for the punk and power pop classics in the used record bin. The Cute Lepers create the crisp, catchy punk numbers that you would normally expect from ex-members of The Briefs and include more narrative lyrics, heavy use of female back up vocals, and pop embellishes that unabashedly display their harmonic vibe.
The Cute Lepers have played every club in Seattle, damn near every club on the West Coast, and circled the US repeatedly; cramming their 6 piece band into a tiny vehicle with nary room to sneeze or stretch without somebody losing an eye. They have crossed the mighty Atlantic several times to tour Europe and the UK either solo or on support tours with bands like The Buzzcocks. They are playing festivals such as Academy in the UK & The Rebellion Festival, as well as any combination of punk clubs, discos, basements, and scrappy (crappy?) squats.
The Cute Leper’s sophomore record, Smart Accessories, continues with more of the tuneful energy that earned their debut full length the attention of Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records, Damaged Goods Records, and 1-2-3-4 Go! Records. The Cute Leper’s first album earned respectable slots on radio station charts on both US coasts as well as an Independent Music Award for best Punk Album in 2009. Their power pop/punk debut made an appearance on several DJ’s top list of 2008, including Seattle's own KEXP.
“… the Lepers are cooking with crack. The spiky, power-pop bounce recalls a polished Fastbacks or Modern Lovers huffing the Vapors off Descendents. There’s hardly a missed stop from the opening blast…”
-Chris Parker, Alternative Press
“The Cute Lepers remind listeners how much variety there used to be in punk’s early days by rolling that era's range of influences into one record.”
-Emily Becker, Venus Zine
“It’s always a good sign when you find yourself reaching to turn up the stereo song after song, and by the end of this I think people three cities down could hear this blasting from my car’s stereo speakers.”
–Jimmy Alvarado, Razorcake
“The debut album from this Seattle band led by ex-Briefs guitarist Steve E. Nix is an energetic set of punkish power-pop rooted in the more melodic bands of Britain’s ‘70s punk movement (the Buzzcocks, Undertones, Vibrators, Generation X). In other words, they’re similar to the music of Nix’s former band, but with a bit less punk attitude and more unabashedly pop in approach, putting them closer to the sound of Portland’s late great Exploding Hearts (though not as deliberately lo-fi).”
-Don Yates, KEXP 6/2008
“This album is a collection of cheery, choral anthems that for me, recapture that anti-hero spirit of the late ‘70s punk scene. If The Cute Lepers lead singer, Steve E. Nix, had an English accent, I could very well be listening to Stiff Little Fingers or Sham 69. The consistent melodic guitar leads in the song “Terminal Boredom” conjures up an image of Doc Martens and the working class…totally contrary to the striped shirt wearing peglegged kids that cross my mind when I hear the phrase ‘power pop.'”
-Astra, Easy Street Records “Locals Only” blog
Hey Cute Lepers! Thanks for the add! GREAT songs! We really LIKE it! Pleased to know about you! Cheers from this part of the world! A brotherly embrace from Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
just put video of the aftershow gig in blackpool 2009 on youtube. hope it meets with your approval. and why aren't you playing in derby this winter? all the best, mick thomas.