Most Southern rap songs are backed by synthetic beats and performed by a huge entourage of nonmusicians. Not so with Tha Fucking Transmissions, a six-piece rap group that’ll bring it today at White Swan. MCs Cornbreadd and Hodge spit hard-knock rhymes on life, drugs and loss. And these MCs are backed by a drummer, a keyboard player, a guitarist/bassist/cellist and even a video projectionist, who screens a series of visuals depicting the edgy lyrics. “We consider ourselves a spectacle more than a band,” says drummer J.D. “Jungle Dick” Tucker.
Maybe so, but the band part of this act ain’t bad. The Transmissions have generated a big buzz — and a rep for ass-shakin’ tunes — in just a handful of shows. After a recent Austin record-store show, Tucker says, “these girls came up and said we were the first band they’ve seen make Austin kids dance.” Now that’s a feat. Tha Fucking Transmissions shift it into sixth along with Over Sea Under Stone and Madeline. The gig also features a screening of a new sketch TV show, Piknic, beginning at 9 p.m.
Thu., March 30, 7 p.m.
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2006.