Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers

Shilpa Ray’s forearms bulge with blood when she plays her harmonium. “I have strange musical injuries,” she explains, referring to the blisters on her fingers. But none of that stops her from pounding on the accordion-like instrument, which reached the height of its popularity in 19th-century churches. “I always feel like I’m still my 14-year-old self,” she says, explaining her determination to play despite the trauma her music can cause. “I never developed beyond that in my attitude.” Ray’s teenage tendencies are alive and well on Teenage and Torture, her second full-length with Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers, which will be released in early 2011 on Knitting Factory Records. A collection of 10 savage and sultry blues-influenced songs, the album finds Ray eviscerating her subjects (and often spilling her own guts) with the kind of sharp-tongued, smart-assed angst that keeps juvenile detention centers in business. Songs like “Hookers” and “Genie’s Drugs” aren’t dealing with kid-sized issues, but no matter the situation, Ray says, “I always have that gut reaction the way that teenagers do.” Growing up in central New Jersey, at 6 years old Ray ... more...