By Kent Davies
Just in case you missed it, a few months back members of noise bands Teeth Mountain and SHAMS set the internet on fire with their appearance on TV courtroom show Judge Judy. Kate Levitt of Teeth Mountain spun the horrific but nevertheless amusing tale of SHAMS frontman Jonathan Coward drunkenly killing her cat with a TV in front of a less-than-impressed Judge Judy. Although the appearance by Levitt and Coward was brief, the clash between the two weirdo noise artists and the crusty no-nonsense Judge is surreal, hilarious and of course just plain weird. From Judge Judy’s inferred accusations regarding Levitt’s fidgety behaviour to the leather-clad, long-haired Coward refuting the accusations of feline homicide, the show had it all. Even noise-punk Brian Blomerth a.k.a. Narwhalz (Of Sound) makes an appearance as a character witness for Coward, calling the Judge “Mama” and accusing Kate of the crime of leaving her underwear on the counter.
Much like many of Judge Judy’s courtroom guests, the story was later revealed to be a hoax—albeit a believable one. SHAMS are known for their savage destructive dead animal antics at their shows. According to Teeth Mountain, the aftermath following the episode was even weirder with hundreds of people trying to contact Levitt. In a recent interview with the Village Voice, she said that she changed her Facebook following a series of disturbing dirty messages and unwarranted hate mail. Levitt stated that the price of viral video fame wasn’t all bad though, leading to increased attention on the band’s MySpace. In the interview she goes on to describe a New Jersey house show where two girls told her that they watched the internet video so many times they now use some of her dialogue as catch phrases.
Levitt also revealed just how easy it is to con the Judge Judy people into paying for everything. “They pay for your flights, your hotels, and they pay for the settlement, too. So when they ruled $1000 at the end of the show, the show paid us that $1000. It was a really sick deal.” What’s next for Teeth Mountain TV? Levitt says she has plans to go on Maury as a Winnie the Pooh-obsessed nutjob with relationship issues.