Nashville's Thelma and the Sleaze to close May with a rock flashbang at Rose Park

Thelma and the Sleaze arrives like some benevolent jukebox glitch — in the best possible way.

Some metaphysical wires crossed, perhaps some shorted, and the speakers play Joan Jett, Thin Lizzy, and Merle Haggard sides all at once. The overtones alone are enough to stagger a body; this music is built on barely-restrained lust, razorblade guitars and beer bottle sweat.

Stationed at the vanguard of queer punk rock, the Nashville band will close out May with a flashbang, playing under the open air of Rose Park.

Fronted by singer-guitarist Lauren "LG" Gilbert, Thelma and the Sleaze owns three full-length records and a host of singles, split 7-inches and EPs to its name. Whether on 2020's "Sacred as Hell" — a perfect musical document at seven tracks and just 19 minutes of music — or last year's "Holey Water," the band keeps its promises, delivering on a vision of rock 'n' roll as perfectly sacred, perfectly profane.

The songs on the more recent record are "unabashedly queer; raging, and provocative, yet tender, reflective, and vulnerable," the band notes on its Bandcamp page with precise self-awareness.

In breaking the record down track-by-track on Bandcamp, Gilbert and Co. provide a host of references, including the Shangri-Las, Martha Davis, Jim Steinman, Nine Inch Nails, Robert Smith, Peaches and Brian Eno.

The ability to absorb all this sound (and then some), then translate it into something pure and dangerous and refreshing makes Thelma and the Sleaze worth hearing and worth hearing out. A wonderful collision.

Thelma and the Sleaze play Rose Park at 8 p.m. May 31 with Highway Demon; tickets are $15. Visit https://rosemusichall.com/ for more details.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Thelma and the Sleaze will play open-air show at Columbia's Rose Park