E-Mail This Article to a Friend BENEFIT SHOW Remembering Kirsten Malone BY CAMILLE DODERO

Friendster.com testimonials were certainly never meant to be memorials. But for punk-rock princess Kirsten Malone, a 29-year-old artist, photographer, and musician who passed away in June after a tragic biking accident in Allston (see "Queen of the DIY Scene," This Just In, June 25), the playful words left on her Friendster profile served as an apt tribute. "Kirsten is the toughest girl in Boston," wrote Jo Coehlo, Malone’s ex-boyfriend and her bandmate in the Faux, a synth-punk foursome that released a debut EP on Tarantula Records in 2003. Friend and fellow Massachusetts College of Art graduate Corey Smithson eulogized her mischievously brazen ways: "Who else could pull off her mix of sincerity, smarts, sass, and sex, and still get so much work done? ... If I had to plan some kind of fucked-up casino heist, I’d want Malone in on the action." But Evan Kenney, singer and guitarist for Fenway Recording buzz band Read Yellow, might have said it best, posting simply, "I love her."

Everyone loved Kirsten Malone, who was also known as "Lady K." And they still do. They love her so much that Honeypump Productions, the collective name that DIY booker extraordinaire Ben Sisto uses to organize shows, has planned a benefit concert in her honor next Thursday at the Middle East. The nine performers on the bill share some affiliation with Malone: Plunge Into Death split a seven-inch single with the Faux for local label Mister Records; Karen Tsiakals, founding member of synth sirens U.V. Protection (who count two chem-suited dancers among their five-woman line-up), was Malone’s long-time pal; Josh Kemp of Providence’s electro-minimalist Mahi Mahi was also a friend.

And the communal affection for Malone isn’t simply something exclusive to a small, scenester clique. "It’s amazing how much is still online about her," says Brooklyn resident Kat Irannejad, Malone’s best friend. "I Google her name every two weeks and there’s always new stuff." Online, the Copley Society member is everywhere: a Web site for her "Love Résumé," a satirical dating-history rundown detailing her past romantic relationships so honestly one former paramour threatened legal action; a QuickTime video posted by an acquaintance of Malone’s art-project spoof on Mystery Date, called "Kiss and Tell"; even photo galleries of Malone dancing, talking, and smiling sweetly, her cursive, Laverne-style "K" tattoo peeking over the neckline of a hand-cut, cherry-red TWIZZLERS ... MAKES MOUTHS HAPPY T-shirt. Most of the blogs linking to her obituaries say things like, "I didn’t know Kirsten Malone, but I sure knew her face."

"Nobody ever felt like they saw her enough of her," recalls Deb Nicholson from EXiMiOUS Productions. "Hanging out with her was always too short."

"If New England was the Pacific Northwest," Ben Sisto posted to the Honeypump message board this past March, "the Faux, Mahi Mahi, U.V. Protection would all be on a well-funded tour together, doing well." Although Mahi Mahi and U.V. Protection never landed that sweet tour with the Faux, they’ll all come together for the first and last time. Sadly, it will be without the star of the show.

"Kirsten Malone Benefit Show," featuring Neptune, Gold, Mahi Mahi, Fat Day, U.V. Protection, Plunge into Death, Cathy Cathodic, Shore Leave, and Laurel the Baton Twirler, takes place on Thursday, September 16, at the Middle East Downstairs. The 18-plus show is at 8 p.m. Cover is $12; proceeds go to helping the Faux finish a full-length recording and a Kirsten Malone memorial foundation for young women studying at MassArt. For more information, visit www.honeypump.net.