Can’t get enough Margaret Cho? Guess what, kids? Our favorite bisexual, Asian-American fag hag of a funny girl actually SINGS on her new album, “Cho Dependent“. But with songs like “Your Dick”, “My Puss”, “Eat Shit and Die”, and more, you’ll know not to expect traditional Korean music or a collection of touchy-feely feminist campfire songs. This is the Margaret Cho that we know and love– or, more specifically, “Margaret ‘FUCKING’ Cho”, as she declares in her co-dependent love (or anti-love?) song “Enemies”. But “Cho Dependent” isn’t just shock for shock value’s sake. This album is seriously funny and smart, with some impressive production values… and impressive musical guests like Ani DiFranco, Fiona Apple, Ben Lee, and others. Normally, with every music review I do, I extract some of the album’s best lyrics; with Cho’s new musical endeavor, there are simply way too many priceless zingers to choose from. On “Your Dick”, Cho sings about her love for the male joystick (“Your dick… is my BFF, when the world ends, it‘s the only one left; Your dick, your dick… I wish I could bronze it, it‘s cool like the Fonz, I wanna ‘Sit on it!’”), but this isn’t some 99 cent store track with dirty lyrics. It’s a full-out production, with rising (ahem…) crescendos and a full chorus of male and female background vocalists joining Margaret in her symphony of phallic worship. Fear not; Ms. Cho is an equal opportunity geni-tale teller. “My Puss“, the gynocentric sister-song to Mickey Avalon’s “My Dick“, even borrows the rhythm of that underground hit: “My puss is so fine that I flaunt it; your puss is so old that its haunted!” “Calling in Stoned” deserves to join the ranks of songs to get high to, with special guest vocals by Tommy Chong (who else?); while “Intervention” (which does NOT feature special guest vocals by fellow bi bad girl Lindsay Lohan, sadly…) is gut-bustingly riotous. She plays groupie with “Baby I’m With the Band”, a song she was born to sing (Love that rift from the 1973 hit “Love Train“!). In one of the best songs on the CD, Margaret gives both male and female superheroes a run for their money with “Captain Cameltoe”. Set to a swinging 60‘s rhythm, she declares “I’m a freaking rock star superhero bitch, take off my glasses and start to switch; I‘ll start to spin, the lights will strobe… I am Captain Cameltoe!”. Listen to this one with the theme from TV‘s “Wonder Woman” for maximum camp value. She spoofs country music with the blackly comedic “I’m Sorry”, gets folksy with “Hey Big Dog” (Is that a banjo we hear?), and will have you singing right along with the honky tonk “Lesbian Escalation”.

     By now you may be asking, “But can Margaret actually SING?!” Yes, she can. Her “Asian Adjacent” (a term she coined to describe someone who is at least part Asian in heritage) boasts a seductive rhythm and vocals with some very provocative lyrics about ethnic identity, which Cho has always explored in her stand-up routines. If music these days were judged by quality instead of marketing, this track could become a breakthrough radio hit with potential for some seriously nightclubbin‘ remixes. (DJ’s, are you listening?!) It’s something of a shame that we have lost most of our shockability in our entertainment, particularly with comedy. With her no-holes barred, all-out raunchfest of an album, Maragret Cho deserves the same place at the envied table of envelope-pushers that seats Ozzy, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, and others. She may make many references to her vagina on “Cho Dependent“, but this gal’s got balls!

     Visit http://www.margaretcho.com/ for more!