Thelma and the Sleaze embrace Dixie charm

The three ladies who make up Nashville trio Thelma and the Sleaze clearly do not take themselves too seriously, and are far from ashamed of their Southern roots. When asked when the band formed, drummer Chase simply replies: “Mud wrestling.”

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Chase offers this same tidbit in most of her interviews. Fortunately, though, the band’s sound comes from a place that’s far from the absurdities of a fabricated mud wrestling federation. Thelma and the Sleaze is built upon elements of blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and other strains of garage-punk fuzz, all funneled through a brisk Southern drawl. “Our influences include Sabbath, Meat Puppets, Big Mama Thornton, Leon Russell, Marianne Faithfull, Dusty Springfield, Eddie Money, and Lil’ Kim,” Chase says.

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And while Thelma and the Sleaze’s sound pulls from all the names she drops, it is the prevailing Southern accent that ties it all together. Many of the group’s songs are genuine reflections of post-adolescent life in Dixie land. Regional slang flourishes in anthems such as “Too Tough,” from this year’s Greatest Hits Live release, in which a love interest is described as a “tall drink of water.” On 2013’s Palmela Handerson EP, one song takes its name from a female protagonist, “Sweet Tea.”

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From the band’s perspective, its shared Southern qualities are barely noticed when touring close to home. “I suppose we’ve just got a nice way of saying things,” Chase says. “The way we present ourselves feels non-impactful until we get to the West or East Coast. Then people want to buy us more beer.”

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Whether it’s a happy accident or a calculated way to get free drinks, Thelma and the Sleaze’s Southern flavor makes the band an ideal Music City rock ‘n’ roll export in the tradition of Those Darlins, Heavy Cream, and Natural Child. When asked about Nashville’s country legends such as Roy Acuff and more contemporary acts Chase invokes the name of just one fellow hell-raiser: “Tanya Tucker is a pillar of class, every decade,” she says. “We pray to ’80s-era Tanya before every show.”

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Despite the silly things they say and do while inhabiting their Thelma and the Sleaze personas, the group did take recording its first proper album seriously. The trio recently traveled to Joshua Tree, Calif.’s Rancho De La Luna studio to record Somebody’s Doin’ Something with producer and guitarist Dave Catching (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal).

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Chase says the album is slated for a fall release on vinyl and cassette. “We’ll be touring forever on that,” she says. “Also, bass player GiGi really wants to do a split with Uncle Kracker, so we’ve got a lot of butter in the pan.”

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Thelma and the Sleaze is a product of the post-garage boom in Nashville, but its carefree creativity and willingness to drop one-liners on unsuspecting journalists is reminiscent of punk’s godmothers. Such an attitude is totally refreshing in 2015 — no joke.