By David Wildman, 01/10/99

When you hear the name Nineteen, you might expect a group that does music aimed at teenagers. The moniker, however, comes from the group's lead singer/lyricist, whose full name is Hendrik Gideonse XIX. Gideonse says he can trace his lineage back to Spanish ancestors, pirates who eventually settled in Holland.

As a performer, his history is much shorter. He was a bass player in the ska-rock group Thumper, but never really fronted a group or sang. He learned how to hold a crowd when he started doing readings of his erotic poetry at shows sponsored by the local magazine Paramour, a publication for which he also served as an advertising representative.

''The main thing I learned from that is that as you get quieter, people tend to listen,'' says Gideonse, 24, as are bandmates and former Tufts University pals Chris Mascara, guitarist, and Colin Milberg, drummer.

The band puts this ethic to work, sometimes starting songs with just bass, drums, and an intimate breathy vocal, later bringing in stinging rock guitar. The lyrics are sensuous and surreal, sometimes using imagery from Greek mythology, other times playing on the abstract and the carnal. (For example: ''Whose bruised thighs clench as she cries, stretching her toes to heaven?'' is from ''Twitch'' on their debut CD, ''A Cradle For Your Soul.'')

''That was actually from a poem I wrote in high school,'' acknowledges Gideonse. ''It was banned back then from our literary magazine.''

Club audiences for Nineteen have proved much more open-minded.

''Most people seem to like the raciness,'' says Gideonse. ''We have a very vigorous stage presence. Chris Mascara (his real name) runs all over the place, and we interact a lot. During one show we did at T.T. the Bear's, I bit Chris on the neck. A lot of girls came up to us after the show and told us they thought that was really hot.''

Unlike a lot of local club bands, the members of Nineteen feel the audience should perceive lyrics as an essential part of the performance. To that end, the group hired the person who had handled the Tufts Theatre sound system to make sure the vocals are always heard. Every syllable is present as Gideonse attacks rich onomatopoetic phrases like: ''Slip, slither, drag and listen/slice, sliver, kiss and cower.''

With such rich wordplay, one might think Gideonse writes the songs as poems first, but instead, he writes the words with the music, sometimes choosing precussive syllables as much for the sounds as for the meaning.

Nineteen is scheduled to headline at a CD release party on Thursday, Jan. 21, at T.T. the Bear's, with openers Metacomet and Poor Jim. The CD also can be ordered on the Internet at www.cdbaby.com.

This story ran on page 08 of the Boston Globe's City Weekly on 01/10/99.
Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.

The Noise. September 1998. Issue #184. Audiodoodayday: Tape Reviews by Butch and Brenda.

Ludricrously grandiose. The slo-mo ballad "Moon Song" is lushly melodic in the sparely instrumental way the band cultivates as a trademark.

Metronome Magazine. August 1998.

The band Nineteen has a very unusual delivery that incorporates driving bass lines, spoken prose and ultra-tight execution. "Twitch" is a maniacal song perfect for the new millennium while "So Fine" and "Moon Song" solidify Nineteen's peculiar aura. Very cool.