Rain Dogs unleashed at Oberon

Several times a year the Peter Mulvey Band puts on the musical disguise of the Crumbling Beauties and covers Tom Waits's 1985 album, Rain Dogs. For the last two years they have joined forces with burlesque dance troupe Babes in Boinkland (aka Lipstick Criminals) for a multi-discipline extravaganza at Oberon in Harvard Square. Here is a distillation of the set list:

Singapore – "We sail tonight for Singapore, we're all as mad as hatters here." The band chugs along as the dancers trawl with distressed fishnets.

Clap Hands – Sugar Dish peels off her red satin gloves and pleather corset to reveal her tattoo. A dancing bear, appropriately enough.

Cemetery Polka – There's something disturbing about this trio in sports jackets and Clark Gable masks.

Jockey Full Of Bourbon – Abby Normal's house is on fire.

Tango Till They're Sore – Sugar Dish, Dinah Deville and Pixy Dust languish in the balcony with confetti in their hair.

Big Black Mariah – Call the police wagon for Dinah's criminal Bump and Grind.

Diamonds And Gold – How's tricks? Not good for working girl Pamela Passion.

Hang Down Your Head – A terminally perky Belle Gunz tries to blunt Honey Pie's razor sadness. That's what friends are for.

Time – A heartbreaker with a singing saw accompaniment to soothe the mood (and vocal chords). By this point Mulvey is drinking straight from the honey jar.

<< Intermission >> 

Rain Dogs – Side Two unleashes a pack of jackals in yellow slickers.

Midtown – An instrumental taxi chase on acid.

9th & Hennepin – "All the donuts have names that sound like prostitutes." The ladies channel their heroin chic.

Gun Street Girl – Honey Pie works the mezzanine and rattles a rusty chain. 

Union Square – Look what crawled out of the trash – it's Belle!

Blind Love – Dinah and Pamela partner in a white swan/black swan pas de deux to a cowboy ballad.

Walking Spanish – Pixie tries to bust out of her orange jumpsuit in a death row strut.

Downtown Train – This is the closest Waits ever came to a pop tune, with covers by Bob Seger and Rod Stewart. His career survived anyway. Under a spinning mirror ball the Lipstick Criminals pay homage to another Waits classic, Pasties And A G-String.

Bride Of Rain Dog – The DJ spins a spoken-word track, "He's the man who won't fit in."

Anywhere I Lay My Head – A holler with dictated power chords, then the band takes it home. The ladies shimmy in gold lamé under a rainfall of mylar. The audience exits in a trail of shiny silver squares.