San Diego Club Scene Graduates : Five-member group recently signed a record deal and released a debut CD, ‘Jaundice.’

Lucy’s Fur Coat is this week’s wise-guy rock band, as subtle as a tarantula on the wedding cake. And wise guy is right--all five Lucy members are college dudes.

On a bill with an Equal Rights Amendment-fund-raising potential of a minus six, the Lucy band will be playing with Ventura’s own can’t-take-them anywhere band, the Hymen Blasters. Also performing are those blast-furnace-in-the-face rockers, Pinching Judy. All of this Friday night at the Midnight Hour.

The Lucy band got going a few years ago in San Diego, playing the local club scene, including the legendary Bodie’s, which helped unleash the likes of the Beat Farmers and Mojo Nixon on an unsuspecting world. Lucy’s Fur Coat recently was signed to Relativity Records, which released their debut CD, “Jaundice.”

The boys in the band, who don’t know a lot of slow ones, include: Charlie Ware, who sings, Tony Sanfilippo and Mike Santos on guitars, Rob Brown on bass and Scott Bauer on drums.

Hanging out in the 619 area code by their speaker phone, Sanfilippo and Ware talked about their favorite band, named after TV’s favorite redhead.

Q: We need to get the introductions out of the way; so who’s Lucy?

Ware: Lucille Ball.

Q: Where did you meet Judy?

Sanfilippo: We have the same manager, and we played with them once in New York City. Pinching Judy is cool.

Q: Your bio describes “Jaundice” as your long-awaited debut album. So who was waiting?

Sanfilippo: Our moms, dads and sisters were waiting. My parents were even at our last gig. They like us a lot, except my mom is always telling me to quit smoking.

Q: Did it work?

Sanfilippo: Does it ever?

Q: Did you guys have a tape or anything before the CD?

Ware: Yeah, we had a demo tape. A one-day, six-song demo tape. We sounded like Foreigner. We hated it so much, we wouldn’t give it to anyone. Then our friends hated us.

Q: Does San Diego rock?

Ware: Sure, there’ll always be good bands here. We identify with all the bands we grew up with three years ago. Uncle John’s Big Old Driver, Fluf, Inch and Rust all got signed.

Q: What’s it like at Bodie’s?

Ware: It’s a place we play pretty often, but the Casbah, that’s the place.

Q: So you guys actually have day jobs?

Ware: Some of us really do. Mike Santos is a CPA, Rob Brown is a draftsman and Bauer is an X-ray technician. I just passed the bar exam, but right now I just do a little temporary work here and there.

Sanfilippo: I just got out of college and I don’t do anything. It was great, especially if your mom and dad pay for it all. College is a time to hang out and be a kid some more.

Q: Did you guys get signed by playing one of those ASCAP showcases?

Ware: Hell if I know. We don’t have a formula. I think that ASCAP showcase helped, but bands don’t usually get signed by playing there. No one from Relativity was there, but a guy named Cliff Cultrei from their New York office called us later and set up another showcase just for him. After three or four songs, we thought he hated us, but instead, he offered us a deal.

Q: Has the band changed since you got signed?

Ware: Not a bit; we haven’t changed since we’ve been together.

Q: Who writes the songs?

Ware: Santos writes all the songs on an acoustic guitar, sort of like Cracker, then Tony beefs them up.

Q: What’s alternative music?

Ware: A label. It’s music that no longer exists. We’re not alternative. Maybe it has something to do with art. We stay away from art; we do rock.

Q: When you play, do people dance, stare or merely run for their worthless lives?

Ware: They pretty much get into it. They sort of stay in their own little space and move around. We try not to encourage slamming.

Q: So what’s next?

Ware: Extensive touring after a video.

Details

* WHAT: Lucy’s Fur Coat, Hymen Blasters and Pinching Judy.

* WHERE: Midnight Hour, 281 W. Main St., Ventura,

* WHEN: Friday night at 9.

* COST: About two bucks or so.

* ETC: 641-2112.