rock There is a legend among the Danes. Sweet Princess Ida of Denmark couldn''t bear living in the shadow of a man so she joined the British Royal Navy. Disguised as a male officer, our heroine sailed to the New World, where her ship was attacked and dismantled by pirates. Meanwhile, back in Denmark, Princess Ida''s betrothed was madly chasing any convenient rumor that might lead him to his lost love. Eventually, he set off for the Caribbean to find her.

By that time, the princess had so impressed the pirates with her crude language and fighting prowess that they made her captain. Thereupon, she began attacking and plundering merchant ships, only leaving captives alive to speak of her mercy and grace.

Finally, her boyfriend, the Prince of Denmark, out on the high seas in search of lovely, bloodthirsty Ida, was attacked by his former paramour, but, like a seagoing version of Taming of the Shrew, the prince triumphed. Then and only then, did Ida bend her knee to the Prince, offering her fidelity because he had proved himself worthy.

The couple returned to Denmark and married. Did they live happily ever after? You be the judge. Forever after, Princess Ida was known to wander the halls and sit on her throne with a heavy cutlass against her side--just in case Prince-boy got out of hand.

I bring up this story to highlight a grave missing piece of the local rock scene. In other words, where are the grrrllll bands? The femme fatale groups? The all-woman, all-the-time rockers? A female musical perspective is necessary to round out any male-dominated scene, and Monterey is no different.

In the past, Monterey has seen a fair share of women rockers. Not that long ago, The Amazon Mollies were an important part of our scene. Now they belong as much--probably more--to the San Francisco/Santa Cruz scene than our own.

Groups that had female leadership like Unshakable Race have slowly sunk beneath the waves of testosterone bands.

That isn''t to say that there aren''t pockets of femininity in our midst: We still have performers like folk-rocker Linda Arceo, and there''s Nicole Anderson, the singer for the group Under_Score. It can easily be argued that part of the Darktown Rounders'' unique brilliance is Jess Roach, the female vocalist singing in harmony with the rest of the group. And there''s longtime blues/jazz/rock chanteuse Lori Hofer, who''s currently working with Lorelei and the Road Kings.

But the numbers are few and the remaining female performers in Monterey need some encouragement. If anyone has bits of info on other women playing in town, send them to me. (The info, not the women. And definitely not the ones with cutlasses.)

Now, as if to prove that "something is rotten in Denmark," here are the bad boys playing around town this week.

On Saturday, you can find Rough House at Ocean Thunder. Many misinformed, unqualified people thought this group was "just another blues band." They''re wrong. Oh, so wrong. Rough House is straight unadulterated rock. The kind of music you throw in your car while breaking speed limits as you drive to some unknown destination. Saturday would be an excellent time to see them in action and re-evaluate your evaluation. This show is free as a Danish Princess. Go check ''em out.

Rough House, Saturday, 9pm. Ocean Thunder, no cover. 643-9169.

Friday night, Blue Fin climbs aboard the tough rock wagon. The Bad Dawgs will be performing songs from their self-titled record. This band also has been classified by many as a blues act. The presence of soul and deep smoky roots in the music of a group may lend itself to some ancient sense of what the blues really meant. However, the Bad Dawgs also possess the bastard spirit of rock, as Muddy Waters described the sound. They could probably shake, bend and squeal with the best of blues groups if they really felt like it. However these folks have musically extended themselves into a new realm of thinking. Go hear them for free, then agree or disagree with the speculation.

Bad Dawgs, Friday, 9pm. Blue Fin Cafe & Billiards, no cover. 375-7000.

OK. You''d have to get in your car and drive, but if you wanted to see a show in Santa Cruz, tonight would be a great occasion. Southern Culture on the Skids will pound Palookaville with white-trash rock. If you''re lucky, maybe you''ll catch a piece of the flying fried chicken they fling from the stage while singing "Eight-Piece Box." The group is swinging through the area and to miss them would be a sin.

Southern Culture on the Skids, Thursday, Palookaville, 8pm, $12-14 cover. 458-2510.

There you go, a bunch of men out there banging their hearts against some mad bugger''s wall. How sweet it would be to find a hometown Grace Slick/Janis Joplin sitting in amongst the crowd.

Until then--keep your whistles happy and your wife happier (especially if her name is Ida and she has a taste for the sea).