The Thrill Isn’t Gone for the Damned’s Frontman

Chris Isaak’s Roy Orbison-influenced singing, Reverend Horton Heat’s turbocharged rockabilly, the Knitters’ traditional country-folk revivalism and Royal Crown Revue’s swinging big-band music.

These four acts, all on the lineup for Saturday’s Hootenanny 2000 festival at Oak Canyon Ranch in Santiago Canyon near Irvine, vary widely in their styles but share a grounding in American roots music.

So what is British punk-rocker Dave Vanian doing on this year’s Hootenanny bill? For nearly 25 years, Vanian has fronted the Damned, the first English punk band to release a record (1976’s “New Rose”) and tour the U.S.

Since its punk heyday, the Damned has embraced other genres from psychedelic to gothic rock. But rarely has anybody mistaken the unit for a roots-rock band.

Nevertheless, at Hootenanny 2000, Vanian will be serving up various American musical styles, though filtered through a distinctly British perspective, with the Phantom Chords, his musical side project.

“What we play is a cross between ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s film music and John Barry, who does film soundtracks, but in the ‘60s had a seven-piece band that used a twangy guitar in the front of various jazzy, rock ‘n’ roll-type instrumentals,” Vanian explains.

“So we’ve got things like that, plus we play the big torch songs from that time,” Vanian says. “We do Gene Pitney’s ‘Town Without Pity,’ Walker Brothers tunes. . . . It’s not all set in one era. It’s more of a variety of sounds that influenced me when I was growing up that I’ve amalgamated into one band.”

Andy Roe, who manages Vanian and the Damned, describes the Phantom Chords’ sound as “sort of a Euro interpretation of American roots music.”

Vanian formed the Phantom Chords in the late ‘80s to play music he felt wasn’t suitable for the Damned. The group has played sporadically since its formation.

A dispute with a record company prevented the first Phantom Chords album in the early ‘90s from being released. In 1995, the group’s only publicly available album (“Big Beat Presents David Vanian and the Phantom Chords”) came out.

The current version of the band is more of a “hired gun” ensemble. The five support members of the group are all America-based. The lineup includes guitarist Eddie Munoz of the Plimsouls, rhythm guitarist Mike Wilcox, keyboardist Dave Soble, drummer Rosanna Curtale and bassist Christian Gibbs.

“Actually, this lineup I haven’t played with at all,” Vanian says. “I’ve only played with Mike and Eddie. We’ll do three rehearsals and then we’ll do the shows.”

Besides the Hootenanny 2000 festival, the Phantom Chords will play the Troubadour in West Hollywood on July 7 and a show in San Francisco. The group also may pop in unannounced at the Lava Lounge in Long Beach and Linda’s Doll Hut in Anaheim while Vanian is in the Southland.

Vanian and his band will be recording material in Malibu this month for a new Phantom Chords album. One track, which will be produced by former MC5 member Wayne Kramer, also will be released on a compilation album called “Beyond Cyberpunk.” The CD also will include performances by such punk-related artists as John Doe of X and Ron Asheton, formerly of the Stooges.

Vanian isn’t planning to include any Damned material at any of the upcoming Phantom Chords gigs, and though he currently is preoccupied with the Chords, he sounds most excited about the status of the Damned.

Two years ago, original member Captain Sensible rejoined the group after more than a decade. The Damned recently recorded nine demos in London for an album it hopes to release either late this year or early next year.

The current lineup--Vanian is the only member who has performed in all of the Damned’s many incarnations--also includes drummer Pinch, Monty the Moron on keyboards and Patricia Morrison on bass. Morrison is a former member of L.A. band the Gun Club and the Sisters of Mercy. The Los Angeles native is also Vanian’s wife.

“Patricia adds a lot to the band,” he says. “She’s always been a good bass player and she’s always been in good groups. I mean the Gun Club was one of the best bands to come out of America during the ‘80s.”

Vanian says the new album will mark a return to the Damned sound of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, when the group recorded albums such as “Machine Gun Etiquette.” He attributes this stylistic revival in large part to Sensible’s reemergence.

“I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to work with him,” Vanian says. “We go into the studio and it really is a good thing. It’s like we don’t waste time. We realize why we’re doing this--why we love music so much.”

Vanian also says he and Sensible have become better songwriters and musicians over the years.

“I don’t think I feel the same today because when I first came into this, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I kind of bluffed my way into this. It was a case of, ‘I think I know how to sing, so I’ll go along and try it.’ But I still get the buzz and the thrill out of it. The music is the most important thing.”

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* The Phantom Chords play at Hootenanny 2000, Saturday at Oak Canyon Ranch, 5305 Santiago Canyon Road, Irvine, noon. $40. (909) 629-0377. Also July 7 at the Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, 8:30 p.m. $12.50. (310) 276-6168.