Pop Music Review : Phranc: Sly Irony and Stark Seriousness

Setting yourself apart from the crowd can be perilously close to painting yourself into a corner. Witness Phranc, who for a decade now has worked under the self-applied tag of “the all-American Jewish lesbian folk singer.”

Much of her show at Bogart’s on Wednesday was tied directly to that identity--sometimes with sly irony, other times with stark seriousness, but nearly always relating specifically to her treasured uniqueness.

Perhaps that, in part, is why it’s been tough for her to get commercial action--despite her longstanding visibility on the L.A. scene. Wednesday marked her first-ever headlining appearance. (She also headlines the Roxy on Sunday.)

It’s a subject she herself broached in the song “Folksinger.” Noting how hip the folk mode is these days, she tips would-be acoustic warriors, “just don’t wear a flat-top and mention sexuality.”

But if she weren’t up front about all this, commercial consequences or no, she wouldn’t be Phranc. The saving grace is that the bulk of her songs are illustrative rather than didactic: touching, funny and often both.

The two most effective moments in her 80-minute solo set came during “Myriam and Esther” and “One o’ the Girls,” moving remembrances of her grandmothers and the Santa Monica College women’s swim team, respectively--two sets of people who were able to accept her for what she is. As she sang those songs, the incalculable personal meaning of that acceptance showed strongly on her face.

With those numbers complemented by such relatively whimsical fare as odes to her favorite tennis player (“M-a-r-t-i-n-a”) and toy store (“Toy Time”), as well as the bittersweet saga of her “Double Decker Bed,” the show did mark off her corner pretty clearly. But it also extended an invitation for the rest of us to step out of our corners and drop by for a visit.