Schmekel is a band consisting of four transmen, guitarist Lucian Kahn, bassist Nogga Schwartz, Ricky Riot on keyboards, and Simcha Halpert-Hanson smacking the drums. Schmekel, which is Yiddish for small penis, tries to blend punk rock, Klezmer, polka and comedy, with a good dose of profanity. They claim to be influenced by the gay punk band Pansy Division, Tom Lehrer, Frank Zappa, The Stooges, Rancid, The Red Elvises, Oingo Boingo, The Prince Myshkins, Green Day, Itzchak Perlman, and the Miami Boys Choir. They've been playing together at benefits, college campuses and local clubs in Manhattan and Brooklyn for about two years.
Their debut album is Queers on Rye. They plan to release another album, Original Plumbing, in March.
The Mohel Song
Shark Attack
I’ve got scars beneath my pecs
From when the surgeon changed my sex
And when I’m out with shirtless men
They ask about their origin
Chorus:
Sarcasm’s a shield that you must learn to carry
Even if your chest’s flat and your chin is hairy
Bigots are stupid but they’re also scary
Don’t want to turn into an obituary
Shark attack! Shark attack! Shark attack! Shark attack!
My scars are from a shark attack! Shark attack! Shark attack!
From Tranny Chaser
:
If you are a man, then wanting me makes you a homo
And women, if you want me, that will not make you more PoMo
I do not want to be a footnote in your dissertation
Or a pinup boy for your half-assed intellectual masturbation
Some of us have boyish faces, tiny hands and noses
But we are men, not girls in drag or women with psychosis
And some of us have giant beards and killer abs and bear coats
So if you want to suck my dick, my ‘dick’ is not in ‘scare quotes.’
There is more about
Schmekel at Sexis. And you can follow their appearances
at Facebook.