"Metal Gods" features two tunes that perfectly exemplify the "death disco" aesthetic of Glass Candy. With a thumping rhythm section and Ida's vocals (which waver between the howl of David Bowie and the uber-vibrato of Ethel Merman) the band reaches into the hazardous depths of no wave pop and brings back tunes that sound pure and refreshing in these days of unimaginative singer/songwriter rumination. "I don't want to be analytical," the singer confidently asserts. "When Jewel is wallowing in her sorrow... I try to avoid that. Whenever I write a song, I ask myself, 'Is this making me feel glorious and righteous and like the world is mine?'"
One thing is for sure. When Glass Candy and the Shattered Theatre take the stage, say goodbye to the conventional punk aesthetic. With their false eyelashes, extreme eyeliner, and Op Art fashions, Ida No and her band look like haute couture vampires. "We wanna look like how the "future" looked in the 1930s or like the Rocky Horror Picture Show," says No. "That's why I thought of the name Glass Candy and the Shattered Theatre. I wanted something that made you feel the same way as the words Rocky Horror Picture Show make you feel... like a bloody event!"
Although they've been a band for little over a year, the band's concept has been germinating in Ida No's head since her girlhood in Vancouver. "The music that I listened to as a kid is still my favorite," says the singer. "Blondie and '70s bands like Cheap Trick. And rock movies, too. The first time I ever wrote a song was after I saw Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains on Night Flight. Me and my friends tape-recorded their song off the TV and would lip sync it!" However, it took several years for Ida's glam imagination to take root in an actual band. "I was a very sheltered child and I'd have to sneak out to take the bus to Portland, even in the daytime! I didn't even see a show until I was 18." But eventually No moved to Portland and hooked up with bass player John David V, and the two began writing songs together. "Once I met John, he encouraged me to write songs. I write the words and make up the melodies in my head and then it goes out of my brain and into John's ears and he makes it into something concrete." Drummer Avalon Kalin rounds out the trio, perhaps defining the band's sound with his live disco beats.
With two self-released singles and an EP distributed by K Records, Glass Candy and the Shattered Theatre are slowly growing into a genre-defining band. "I was meant to do more than be a manager at Dairy Queen," the truly glamorous No divulges. With her provocative combination of style, pluck, and aplomb, her future is definitely going to be light years away from a drive-thru window. Ida No's future is now.
