Mouths of Babes

Julie Christmas, the alternately angelic and aggressive singer for the artfully noisy space-sludge outfit Made Out of Babies, rated a full-page photo in Revolver‘s March 2006 “Hottest Chicks in Metal” issue. Christmas tells the Pitch that this accolade prompted guys she grew up with in Brooklyn to ask, “Who did ya get to stand in for you?” — not to mention a few “sweet — code for creepy — MySpace love notes,” she says.

Even icky “babymaker” references don’t phase the tour-hardened Christmas, who, after a Belgium show, bunked next to a wall covered in penis graffiti and captions such as “There is something in this bed that rhymes with Mubic Bear.” Having endured that genitourinary gauntlet, Made Out of Babies won’t flinch at sharing the Replay Lounge stage Friday night with Filthy Jim, a Lawrence garage-rock band christened after a slang term for a used condom.

“We’ve also had the good fortune to play with Horse Hymen and Skinhead Penis,” Christmas says. “I made those up, actually, but there is a real band called Pinky Tuscadero’s White-Knuckle AssFuck.” (It’s true, and the group’s logo involves interlocked arms in a P shape, with the letter’s stem forming a fist.)

Made Out of Babies’ own moniker comes from an overheard conversation in which a young boy theorized that a sunscreen bottle with an infant’s image on the front contained liquefied toddlers. Given its name and Christmas’ heartthrob status, it would seem natural that Made Out of Babies would receive dolls as gifts from fans. Instead, Christmas says, the group usually collects bottles that aren’t filled with formula.

“One girl gave us a bottle of 80 percent — that’s percent, not proof — rum,” Christmas recalls. “We drank some of it, but after it melted our nose hair, we started using it as disinfectant. Brendan [Tobin] cleaned the neck of his guitar with it.”

“I like cakes and pies, but I always get cleaning supplies as presents,” a crestfallen Tobin adds.