Monsters Ball

Outside a Starbucks in midtown Manhattan, Stewart Copeland, iconic drummer for the Police, appears amid the rush of pedestrians and walks by. This sighting would send most young drummers into a tizzy. Not Nikkiesha Nikkie McLeod, 30, who drums for New York City indie-rock trio Telenovela Star. I prefer Max Roach, she says, giving it up for the jazz legend instead. The Police are great, but Every Breath You Take creeps me out. It sounds like a stalker song. Perhaps this lesbian musician doth protest too much. Telenovelas second album, Love, Lust, Sci-Fi and Monsters, features a catchy tune about a suffocating lover (Youre All Over Me), lots of brooding lo-fi noise, and twisted lyrics like I really want you even though you hate to fuck. As for why her bands name co-opts the Spanish word for soap opera? Well, the woman has a thing for drama. Just ask about her high-top afro. I was wearing dreadlocks, she offers. But I had a really terrible breakup with this girl. Then I got all dramatic and cut it all off, like an idiot. Send a letter to the editor about this article.