Link to band website or contact - Stavros Polentas

Management, Bookings, Publicity: Steven Rullman
steven @ thehoneycomb.com Label: Purple Skunk

Biography

SUBTROPICAL: Subtropical Spin
First Blood (Purple Skunk)
By Jonathan Zwickel, New Times BPB
Thursday, September 8 2005 
Just because singer Stavros Polentas garbles his words like a shit-tanked, heartbroken Joe Strummer doesn't mean Secret French Kissing Society sounds anything close to the Clash. On the contrary, despite Polentas' obvious, loutish affectations, he writes profoundly powerful, cinematic, alt-rock vignettes, gothic tales of harsh life, harsher love, and unlikely redemption. All through his vocal and thematic gestalt, Polentas' band -- bassist Jessie Steele and drummer Chuck Britzmayr -- stays wrapped tightly around his schizoid guitar, building or bending at his every nuance. If you've ever seen SFKS live, you know these guys are masters of mood, able to scream through blistering, abstract noise into hushed, numbed lulls of acoustic guitar and calm vocals. First Blood veers maniacally through similar extremes, often within the same number. It's not so much volume or speed that drives songs like "Dirty" (with the wince-inducing line, "I'm a wolf at the door/gonna eat you alive/fuck you hard like a whore") and "Church on Sundays" (with a rosy, flamenco-punk trumpet) into self-flagellated friction. Rather, it's Polentas' art-damaged voice dragging deeper and deeper into the pit of self-loathing that imbues these songs with righteous drama. Far-off piano inflicts further gravitas on already-somber tunes like "Bruised Noodles" and the haunting "Black & White Cartoons," where Polentas' lyricism shines through the dusky cobwebs of the music's mood: "I've got a bag full of god if I wanna get high/A small collection of quotes that I stole on the sly/I've got a house and a home and grave when I die." There's plenty of volume as well, in the crescendos that come at the end of "A Silent Film for the Blind" and "Lonely Balloon." These long, panoramic songs earn their angst through incisive songwriting and scathing musicianship. Settle in, have patience, and forget your Clash collection. Secret French Kissing Society has its own epic story to tell.

The Secret's Out
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Jason Budjinski-New Times Broward/Palm Beach
 

There's not much that's still a secret about the Secret French Kissing Society. It's quite obvious, really -- this band can dole out some good pop tunage. And not pop as in the "Oh baby, I love you" variety of fluff. No sirree. SFKS runs several shades of melancholy, à la the Smiths or the Psychedelic Furs, but never quite falls into the depressing category. It's equally bitter and sweet; there are plenty of quirky, upbeat ditties amid the slower, more plaintive dirges. From the up-and-down dynamics of "Suicide Bomber" to the more evened-out pop of "My Girlfriend's Friend," the poignant melodies of singer/guitarist Stavros Polentas take you on a synaptic roller-coaster ride. You might even hear a Cure song or two. Or three; the band knows quite a few and does a damn good job of them too.

Three Views of a Secret
Friday, June 3 2005
Bill Meredith, The Palm Beach Post 

 
Boynton Beach trio Secret French Kissing Society makes a powerful pop statement on its debut CD, First Blood (Purple Skunk Records). Mixing elements of New Wave-era bands Psychedelic Furs, The Cure and The Smiths, vocalist/guitarist Stavros Polentas, bassist Jessie Steele and drummer Chuck Britzmayr can both whisper and scream — often within the same tune. Polentas' acoustic and electric guitar work makes for haunting instrumental intros (Bonnie & Clyde), and his intelligent lyrics include doses of humor (A Silent Film for the Blind)

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