Only white music geeks like the five who make up The Down Motif could have the impudence to squeeze so much funkiness out of a song that’s about Plattsburg, NY. I’ve only been to Plattsburg once, but I must ask, what is so funky about a place like that? Nothing, I don’t think. I got to hand it to these guys, if there’s one thing they’re good at (though there’s actually quite a few) it’s the ability to pull some dang funky inspiration seemingly out of nowhere. That only makes sense since there’s been a slow and subtle stereotype growing within the jam band sub genre: they’re almost all nerdy white guys who are great musicians, and they’re all remarkably good at defying the laws of rock’n’roll physics and proving that even geeky white guys, too, can get down.

The Down Motif is a local Burlington supergroup of sorts—a newly formed quintet made up of the aforementioned Tucker and Mike Pederson on guitar and vocals, Alex Budney on bass, Ryan Erskine on keys, and Tim Sharbaugh on drums. They’ve all been active in other bands on Burlington’s local scene and came together for the first time as The Down Motif earlier this winter. They gained residency at Nectars for all of January and February, playing the club every Tuesday night of both months. After hearing a few words of praise through friends, I decided to check them out on February 15^th for their Jameson Whiskey-sponsored weekly gig. They fit the jam band sub-genre to a tee; these are indeed five white guys who look like they wouldn’t know the first thing about funk. But thirty years on from that genre’s inception, there’s plenty of inspiration to dig deep into. Trust me: these guys know how to dig.

Three decades ago, white guys like this probably would only liken the term “funk” with a horrible stench and not much more. To somehow transmogrify that term into cohesive sounds at that point meant you had to be cooler than a cucumber in the freezer and sport a huge afro (like Sly Stone) or a nappy concoction of multi-colored dreads (like George Clinton). You also had to do so many drugs that anything not funky just didn’t make sense. Such isn’t the case in 2010. With two generations of great inspiration for the taking, all you need to do is pick up what these forefathers were throwing down, latch onto what makes it all tick, and kick out the jams. That’s whatThe Down Motif did every Tuesday night for two months. And for free, I should add.

They opened their set that night with a seriously hard hitting rendition of “Goin’ Down,” the now-ancient blues standard that’s been covered up to high heaven.  To do something new with this tune these days is no easy feat, but between Erskine’s driving organ rhythm, Tucker’s hearty vocals, plus his and Pederson’s searing solos, it was enough to beguile even the most jaded blues enthusiast (something I occasionally fancy myself to be). From there they delved into a batch of original tunes (though it’s highly likely a few other covers were thrown in that I just didn’t notice) that drifted between heavy funk work outs, quirky short numbers, and stretched out psychedelic jams. At this point I still don’t have any clue what these songs titles could be as the band has yet to record anything; a real shame.

It’s hardly unfortunate to say that they’re guilty of another classic jam band staple: they’re way better when they’re just jamming. On their shorter numbers, which sounded dangerously close to Moe. rip-offs at times, I found myself just wanting them finish up and start jamming again. Thankfully, while they are better at just playing, they never succumbed to the third qualm of jam-heavies: they knew when to end to the song. Not once did they get stuck in the jamming K-hole: that region where ego and lack of direction combine and force the sounds to drift off into oblivion. They improvise, but they always saw the light at the end of the tunnel. No solo stretched too long and the interplay between these five fellows always seemed to point towards something bigger. You’re able to latch onto their wavelength and connect with the sounds they were projecting out. Their ability to build up the tension and then release it at just the perfect moment is uncanny, especially at this early point in their existence. I also feel it necessary to again mention that is was all seriously, seriously funkadelic.

In yet another jam band pigeonhole, their lyrical content delves into all sorts of quirk. They ended their first set of the night with a song about lunch ladies, taco ladies, and pizza ladies. But hey, guilty of typecasts they may be, it’s fine. They just formed, and their set was great because it oozed with the vibe of five guys who play just because they love to do it. Plus, this is Burlington we’re talking about here, the honest-to-God birthplace of jam-rock. Honestly, can ya blame’em? When it’s five white guys getting this funky (and for free, no less), I sure can’t.

With The Morning Benders’ new album, Big Echo, only 7 days away from being available in hard copy form, the promotional stream of the album can be found above this block of text. Their last release, Talking Through Tin Cans, was a briskly paced album that had a Beatles’ like quality to it. But what The Beatles did that was a big part of their success was take risks by changing the tone and feel of each album. With Big Echo, it seems The Morning Benders are approaching their music in a similar manner by not sticking to their “sound”, but evolving it. In doing so, they have the potential over time to create a complete and rich catalog of music. Nevertheless, Big Echo is a melodically soothing album. But why take it from me when you can listen to it right up there?

More Info:

The Morning Benders | Website

My first experience with SMALLBOYPANTS came at 3 in the morning on Rt. 3 near Giants Stadium. Returning from Jersey City, my friend Kenny and I found ourselves parked on Rt. 3 as construction crews dicked around a mile up the road. The traffic wasn’t moving and we were slowly going insane. We looked at the cars surrounding us and saw similar looks of pending mental collapse on the various folks trying to get wherever they were going. All we had to occupy ourselves with was my tobacco pipe and a dwindling bag of black Cavendish—we chain-smoked the hell out of that pipe.

And after our 2^nd pipeload, Kenny looked at me and asked if I liked SMALLBOYPANTS. Thinking it was the start of some Michael Jackson joke, I said, “No.”

He replied, “How? Have you heard it yet?”

“Heard what yet?”

“Smallboypants.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Jimmy’s new project: Smallboypants.”

“Oh, shit. Na, I’ve been wanting to hear it, but I haven’t had the chance.”

Kenny quickly grabbed a stack of CDs and popped one in. It was the first SMALLBOYPANTS compilation, made up of 6 songs that served a very important function, which was lifting my mood out of a rotten place. After all, traffic—especially the kind we were in—is psychologically damaging in a very subtle, but severe way.

When the first track, Christian Peslak’s song, “Comfort to Take,” took off, the sense of stagnation faded as the rolling rhythm of the song brought about this genuine sense of movement. And while the song came and went quicker than my bad mood, the second track, “Crying From the Home,” possessed a similar quality, with a thumping and jovial bass propelling the airy guitar and vocals through the song. We were both moving around in our seats, smiling and banging on the dash as people next to us probably thought we were either too drunk to be driving or completely out of our minds.

From that point forward, each song amplified our newfound good moods, and traffic wasn’t even a thought or a concern. When Kenny popped in the second compilation we were so high on the music that we started getting really weird, shooting girls the wink and the gun, screaming nonsense out the window, conducting Chinese fire drills, and eventually stealing a traffic cone to remember the evening by. It was an excellent first impression, which stimulated my curiosity in this oddly named group of musicians.

The cryptic and mysterious name, SMALLBOYPANTS, allows the group plenty of flexibility in what they can do. They aren’t just a band or a record label, but a complete musical and social experience. Since forming in December 2008, SBP has released 3 full-length albums, 2 compilations, an E.P., and 2 albums that were only available online. While SBP members all write their own material, it’s common for other members to collaborate on each other’s work, which drives home the fact that they aren’t necessarily a band but more of a collective. They have played over 50 shows in the past year, and it was my initial experience with SBP that made me curious about their live show.

In torrential rain, I drove 6 hours from Burlington, Vermont to Newton, New Jersey to see The SMALLBOYPANTS Spectactular at my old college’s new theater. James Abbott, a friend and one part of SBP, was releasing his new album, Black Drink Vision Quest. Initially, I was psyched that James was doing something different than what I was used to seeing him play, which was hardcore music in bands like The Mayflower Blueprint and Last Light.

Instead, he was part of this music collective with an odd name and a certain rawness to what they were doing. The album covers, for the most part, are hand-drawn pieces that look like artwork from ancient civilizations. There’s a naturalistic vibe to the album art and the music, which is inherently compelling.

But the show that I drove 6 hours to see was definitive proof that SMALLBOYPANTS is more than just a collective of talented musicians. It’s a totally immersive performance art experience. The new theater at SCCC (Sussex County Community College) was a thing of beauty. What stuck out most besides the elaborate speaker rigs and massive stage was the 30ft or so tall light screen that changed colors with each song.

Before the show kicked off, a lanky 20 something-year-old kid in a suit came out from behind the curtain and passionately recited poetry for the crowd. The curtain opened and SBP began playing. Within a few songs, much of the audience had relocated to the stage after Steve Marion’s cousin, Joe, played the role of hype man and encouraged everyone to join the group as they played.

It was after The SMALLBOYPANTS Spectacular that I became absolutely fascinated by SBP, and decided to reach out to Steve, whose home studio is the collective’s primary music production zone. Below is the transcript of that interview:

How did SMALLBOYPANTS form?
It started as an idea I wrote down in my special idea notebook. The vision was to try and unify my friends and the music I’ve created and worked on under one roof, and to have an outlet for new music. The idea was discussed, the name was chosen, the website was created, old albums were uploaded for people to download for free. We went from there to making new music, putting out compilations and full length releases, and playing live shows together.

Where’d the name come from?
The name came from Mickey’s neighbor when they were in 4th grade. I think the story goes that they were talking about names for a record label on the way to the bus and that was the name she thought of.

What’s the vision for SBP? Short and long term.
The vision of SBP has morphed over time, right now it is serving as a record label. Over the summer we were playing shows together under the name SMALLBOYPANTS, and before that it was a little of both. I’m not certain of the long term vision for SBP, we change its meaning as we see fit according to what we’re doing at the time.

What’s been your favorite experience so far?
There have been many–just getting the opportunity to make music and work with your best friends is a great experience. Our first show was amazing. It was the first time we were all playing together live, and it was to celebrate Christian Peslak’s new record. All of our friends came out and surprisingly people we didn’t know were there too. It was such a positive night that it encouraged us to keep moving forward. Then the next morning Mickey, my cousin Tom and I played basketball together.

What is your favorite thing about SBP?
My favorite thing–aside from the whole playing music with your friends part–is how flexible the name and meaning of “SMALLBOYPANTS” is. We’ve used it as a website to post updates about our projects, put records out under the name, and have basically been a band called SMALLBOYPANTS. Mickey is also putting out a movie that will in some way be affiliated with the name. We’ve made/sold homemade energy bars at shows under the name. We are also all good at basketball and have thought about starting a team. We’ve even been challenged by a local record label, but they still haven’t picked a time and place.

How do you go about picking up a new member of the collective? Does it usually begin with a friendship or are you now kind of keeping an eye out–or have you always been keeping an out for unique musical talent to add to the SBP mix?
We’ve pretty much kept it to the same group of guys since we started. Adam, who plays bass, and Mike, the drummer, I’ve known since high school. We were all in a band together called BALLER BANKS. I’ve also known Mickey since high school–he was in this band called ATX Revivals. Our bands used to play local shows together, and I recorded three of the ATX albums. I got introduced to Jim through my friend Will and recorded his first album in 2008 with Mike on drums and a different Adam on bass. I found out about Christian through Mickey, and we first worked together recording Open Garden. Christian was the last person I met out of everyone. He was the inspiration to try and bring all of these people together.

Briefly explain BALLER BANKS and the experience with Warner Bros. How did that experience shape your approach to SBP? And did it kind of move you towards the DIY end?
BALLER BANKS was the band I was in with Adam, Mike, and Martin Bonventre (who currently makes music as Santino Santino). I met those guys, who at the time were in a band together with another guitar player and a girl singer, through some friends and got to know them by recording their album. I’ve met everyone I know–BALLER BANKS, all the SBP guys–by recording their music and becoming friends with them. Anyway, I joined the band and we got rid of the singer and guitar player and became BALLER BANKS. It was a life changing experience and showed me the joy of playing music and being in a band. As for Warner–long story short–we got signed to Warner Brothers and Record Collection, eventually recorded an album with Robert Carranza, it got shelved and we got dropped. That was an interesting experience to have as a teenager in a band. As for SBP when it came time to release music, I didn’t even think of trying indie labels because of the weird WB experience, which I guess helped to form the record label side of SBP.

Do you think it’s easier/more enjoyable to be a musician now given all the technological advances that forever altered music?
I can’t say for sure if it’s more enjoyable, but it’s definitely easier to create your own musical world without having to rely on many other people. If I can be the producer, recording studio and engineer, record label+manufacturer, in addition to being a musician, I don’t really need to outsource anything in order to see my vision manifest itself, and I can save money.

Also, what do you think the pros and cons of having this abundance of music readily available on the Internet? By the way, the internet is probably one of the most mind-bending inventions ever. My brain can’t even fathom how WiFi was discovered/created.
I like it, I think it doesn’t matter–it’s not a bad thing. Smallboypants.org started as a website with only links to full albums for free download, which isn’t to say that that is a smart idea by itself. In real life people who never got a chance to hear those albums wanted to hear them, so the need was there.

Where have you guys played and what places had the best responses or the most interesting responses?
As SBP we’ve played in lots of interesting places. We played two shows where we performed as Harry Belafonte from the Live at Carnegie Hall 1959 album which was a lot of fun. We dressed up and learned the songs and did it with upright bass and classical guitars, in the same arrangements as the album. It was less of a cover band thing and more of a recreation of the actual performance. We played some kind of benefit show in upstate New York on a huge, festival type stage in someone’s backyard a couple hours after Mickey did a triathlon in PA which was also fun.

What motivates you when it comes to music and SBP in general?
I am not really sure. Aside from enjoying listening to music and making music just for the sake of making it, there is also this side to me that wants to reach as many people as possible and show them what I am doing.

Bonus:


More Info:

SMALLBOYPANTS Website

Review of Delictate Steve’s WONDERVISIONS

It’s been one year since Arthur Kade, ex-financier turned cult-Philadelphia personality and symbol of American douchedom, embarked on his journey to become a huge star! How’s he doing? Certainly, most of my friends still have no clue who he is, but Kade himself says he’s known on every continent on Earth, even — even! — the great continent of Alaska.

Sure, Kade has partied with the few celebs who ever come to his home city of Philadelphia, and he’s been on Gossip Girl for several seconds. Just this week, he debuted – spoke! — on Showtime’s La La Land. Of course we’ve all heard about his reality show in development with IMG and book deal with Trident Media. Although, when we contacted IMG, we found it difficult to find someone to confirm the Kade show; some didn’t know what we were talking about. And Trident Media never responded to our requests for comment. But who are we? Kade’s likely telling the truth, but maybe he isn’t top priority at either firm.

In honor of Kade’s anniversary, my colleagues Heidi Khaled and Brett Bumgarner and I cut a short, ten-minute version of our documentary on Arthur Kade, Fame: Kade Style.

We were unable to get access to Kade directly — apparently IMG owns his image (and yet he posts on YouTube daily?). Still, with some help from members of the media and academy, we did get a handle on the universe of Kade. Not really “who is Arthur Kade?” but more “What is Arthur Kade?” We reveal the haters, the media, his career, misogyny, homophobia (against Kade), etc. We tried to cover as many bases as possible. It’s a good introduction for anyone wondering what all the fuss is about.

So what do we think of Kade? We don’t hate him! Actually, I think he’s almost brilliant. Our friend Mike Serazio put it well when he said, at the end of our video: “Maybe he’s the only authentic one here, because he’s willing to acknowledge fame drives him. We’re all fameballs in a social-networked, web 2.0 world.”

I do think people hate on Kade because he’s doing what many of them don’t have the guts to do. Sure, he’s largely untalented, and Americans believe, generally, in rewarding talent with fame: why else is American Idol the most successful show on television right now? Yes, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, etc. exist, but few people really love or respect them, except ironically or as camp icons. Kade allows us to hate him. He barely gripes about his haters. In fact, he pretends to be oblivious to criticism, allowing dozens of YouTubers to make hate videos and anonymous blogs without annoying cease-and-desist letters or pleas that he needs to be taken seriously — well, not usually anyway.

I think Kade is almost completely sincere, as sincere as any of us ever are. I just think he’s done “too much.” He puts an awful lot of effort into producing his persona. He blogs and posts pictures nearly every day. He posts YouTube videos more than once a day. As of today he has 670 YouTube videos, posted in just 365 days! He tweets now too. Kade epitomizes web 2.0; he’s flawless in that regard. He unleashes himself on world to a ridiculous degree. And the consequences are very revealing. What does he get in return for his overweening self-promotion? 136 YouTube subscribers and 688 Twitter followers (as of today); even I have more Twitter followers than that! (As of today).

Kade is a great symbol and perfect moral tale. Just because you work really hard to put yourself out there online, doesn’t mean you’ll be paid back with fame and fortune. Sure, maybe Kade’s purported reality show will make it on TV. But as Philebrity’s Joey Sweeney told us, “The best he could hope for is a reality show, and what happens to people when their reality shows end? Nothing.”

I’m not a pessimist by nature. I’m actually an idealist. I believe the web can do great things for Hollywood outsiders; it’s why I’m studying original web series. But “making it” is never easy, and I think we’re all more than skeptical Kade will. Who knows, though, right? Crazier things — and crazier people — have happened.

Finally: many, many thanks to Philebrity’s Joey Sweeney, journalist Dan Lee and Professor Michael Serazio for lending us your time and thoughts! This short version is missing a lot: interviews with haters and some great Kade clips, including more personal/less obnoxious stuff and a few other bits, like his monologues. We did post separately a Kade vs. Michael Douglas video, both reciting the “Greed is good” monologue from Wall Street.

Online comedy hasn’t been kind to television studios looking to break in. Remember Turner’s SuperDeluxe or NBC’s DotComedy? FunnyOrDie and CollegeHumor still run the game, but competition’s always bubbling up.

Fox Television Studios and its digital arm 15 Gigs’ have decided they need a more targeted push for their series Iceman Chronicles, so they’ve partnered up with comedy upstart MyDamnChannel, who’s looking to expand its library including such hits as You Suck At Photoshop and IKEA’s Easy to Assemble.

“Fox is really putting some muscle and smarts and money into really solid productions. That caught our attention,” MyDamnChannel CEO Rob Barnett said of his new partner, who worked with production company Drama 3/4 to develop Iceman, which has been on YouTube since last year but has been only been watched a few thousand times. Fox has plans to do more original work with MyDamnChannel.

Debuting its first two episodes yesterday with new ones coming each week, Iceman Chronicles is a dark comedy about a set of murders in a small desert town, a more murderous and funny Twin Peaks. As the town searches for the killer, events become screwier and more outrageous.

For Fox, MyDamnChannel offers a more focused and dedicated audience than Hulu, where a lot of its original series were posted last summer, or YouTube, where thousands of videos get lost in the shuffle. Iceman may have missed its target audience on YouTube. 15 Gigs created a small slate of series last year, some of which racked up some numbers and even expanded, though perhaps not reaching the levels expected.

“We needed that audience to be communicating with,” Rachel Webber, director of digital strategy and development for 15 Gigs.

Meanwhile, MyDamnChannel is looking to further differentiate itself in the crowded field of web comedy. When the site launched in 2007, there were already competitors in place or starting up, not to mention the hundreds of independent comedians on YouTube. MyDamnChannel managed to stick through it and has small built a base of support (with some help from its own YouTube channel). Still, high quality content is rare online and websites must crank out hits consistently.

“You can note the difference right away when looking at a few frames of the Iceman Chronicles and then looking at a few frames of your basic, everyday, throw-it-up-on-the-web video,” Barnett said.

What Barnett said finds inspiring, in spite of the persistent challenge of finding advertisers, is how many entrepreneurs are creating original content for the web. MyDamnChannel gets pitched shows 10 to 15 times day, many more than when the site first began.

“It’s growing, while other forms of media life are all shrinking,” he said. “People are literally unplugging their TV sets.”

Nevertheless, blowing the last of my money on Guitar Hero 2 was stupid, but my 3 in the morning desire to play basketball on day 5 of my bender takes the cake as one of the most ridiculous impulses that I immediately acted on.  I was sitting on my porch, sipping a gin and No Fear, when a cool breeze blew in and filled my head with hoop dreams.  After 30 minutes of searching every possible spot in my house where a basketball might be hiding, I began thumbing through the contact list in my phone.  Who could I call?  Tyler?

“Hey man,” I said.

“Huuuhh,” Tyler replied, still half asleep.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a basketball that I could borrow?”

“What? What time is it?”

“I don’t know, 3ish.”

“I have work.”

“Ok, sorry. Hit me up if you want to play ball tomorrow.”

“Ok.”

And that was that.  Next contact. No answer.  And on that went until I finally got desperate and called Myron.  He answered, but was soon let down when he realized I wasn’t in trouble.

“You’re waking me up for a basketball?”

“Yea, I really want to play.”

“What time is it?”

“Close to 4, I guess.”

“You’re fucking ridiculous.”

Once he hung up I realized my chances of playing early morning basketball were not looking good.  Wired and in need of a serious release of energy, I sat on the computer and mindlessly searched the web until I realized my friend, Will, was on AIM.

“Yo,” I typed.

“Yo,” he replied.

“Sup.”

“Nm, you?”

“Same. Still up. Want to play basketball. Have no ball.”

“Hahaha. Well, if you want to drive to Lafayette, I have a ball you could use.”

“Yea. That works.  I’ll be there in 30-40.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yea. You going to be up still.”

“Probably.”

“Well, leave the ball outside if you decide to go to sleep.”

“You’re crazy.”

And off I was.  At this point, alcohol and sleep deprivation were being held in check by all the energy drinks I had consumed, which appeared to have sent my adrenal gland into overdrive as I was alert and sharp.  I put on some upbeat music to make the drive go by quicker and headed out of town to get that basketball.  My plan was to get back around 6, head right to the court down the road from my house and play until 7 when the local bagel shop opened.  I would then go there and get a Taylor ham, egg, and cheese with salt, pepper, and ketchup on the freshest everything bagel I would ever have.  It was going to be a glorious morning and once the breakfast sandwich was turned to mush in my gut, I would put an end to my work-week long enduro challenge.

But on my ride up, I caught a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror.  I looked like a cross between a crack head and a serial killer.  My eyes were beady, bloodshot ovals with shoe polish black bags underneath them.  Suddenly, paranoia began to jib and gab at my brain, filling it with thoughts of failed sobriety tests and a miserable morning in the drunk tank.  I needed a good story.  No, not just good, absolutely amazing.  I thought for awhile, trying to think of a legit reason to be on the road at 4:18 in the morning, looking like someone who just dumped a few bodies in the woods.  Then it hit me: I broke up with my girlfriend.  Brilliant! I thought.  Yet there was one problem.  I needed to make it legit—I had to be able to make myself cry.

I started thinking of awful shit: My parents dying. Witnessing my dog get hit by a car.  The Dolphins failing to win a Super Bowl in my lifetime.  And so on.  I eventually found the right combination of awful shit and my eyes welled up.  I was crying! And laughing joyously as I pumped my eyelids to open the floodgates and change my appearance from Buffalo Bill to grieving ex.  Also, I needed to get the top of my shirt drenched in tears so it would indicate to the officer that I had, in fact, been crying for much of my ride.  It was a proud moment indeed, but fortunately, I did not have to drop that excuse to save my ass.

I made it to Will’s fine.  He was still up and was smoking a cigarette outside when I pulled up. The first thing I remember Will saying when he saw me was, “You look like shit.  Were you crying or something?”

“Yea,” I replied. “I was preparing myself for getting pulled over.  I was going to say I broke up with my girlfriend.”

“Jesus. You’re out of your mind.  How long have you been up?”

“I don’t know. 5 days or so.”

He shook his head and laughed, pulling in the final drag of his cigarette, which he then flicked away.

“Here’s the ball.  Get some sleep.”

“Right.  Take it easy.”

And off I was.  It was 5:40 or so when I got to the courts; I shot around for an hour before I made my way to the bagel shop.  It was closed—holiday.  My plan had failed.  It was time to give up and fold to the pressures that were now being felt as the gin and energy drink wore off.  The crash had come.

A random search through MySpace band pages shows an interesting variety of genres. “Rock/ Jazz/ Progressive.” “Reggae/ Funk/ Rock” “Experimental/ Jazz/ Reggae/ Funk/ Stoner Rock/ Children’s Music/ R&B/ Motown/ New Age/ Death Metal.”

All right, I made that last one up, but my point is that no one wants to pigeonhole themselves within a single genre anymore, which I think is great. However, it takes a certain level of musicianship to affectively cross genre borders, and many bands lack that musicianship. Just because your punk band slows down the tempo every once and a while, the bassist playing lines ripped directly from Sublime’s “40 Ounces To Freedom,” the guitarist mashing chords on the offbeat, that doesn’t mean you’re a reggae band. Slapping the bass doesn’t make you funk. Adding a trumpet to your line-up doesn’t make your band avant garde jazz.

Goosepimp Orchestra’s MySpace page describes them as “an 8 piece psychedelic latin/ funk dance party.” Gotta love it when a band downplays its genre jumping abilities.

“The Biggest Bang” is eerily reminiscent of Mahavishnu Orchestra’s “The Inner Mounting Flame.” They are both bands’ first full length album, both have the word “orchestra” in their name, but most importantly, they both possess a knack for seamless style changes and beautiful mood swings. Goosepimp bounces around from floor-shaking, chest rattling rock to soft, delicate harmonics, psychedelic synth-driven non-musical babbling to expertly composed horn arrangements, latin to punk, reggae to funk, and it never sounds forced. If you put the album on for the first time and left the room after listening to the first track, you’d probably assume you left your iTunes on shuffle when you got back, and that you were now listening to a different artist. But if you sit and listen to the album the whole way through, Goosepimp Orchestra will take you on a journey from the earth’s surface to hell to outer space to heaven and back again, without you ever realizing you left your couch.
The album opens with “Flashback,” kicking off with strange, Syd Barrett-like disorienting noises, then transitions into a tom-heavy, organ-driven big band sounding ruckus. Think “Sing, Sing, Sing” on acid. One minute into the track, the tone shifts to a head banging, fist pumping, hard rock drive with saxophone, trombone, and trumpet wailing over driving cymbals and bass drum. It’s Less Than Jake meets Eric Dolphy, with Barrett holding the conductor’s wand. The horns wail and moan, crying and speaking in words, and not necessarily musical notes. The track kicks back into uniform hits lined up with drummer Joe Calabrese’s heavy bass drum, with spacey keyboard sounds in the background throughout.

Track two, “Palabra” is a Brazilian samba sounding tune, but again, it blends genres and makes it sound easy. The percussion work on the track is outstanding, keeping a funky but steady base which allows the horns, keys, and guitars to go nuts. John Albertelly’s trumpet solos on the track are beautiful, jumping between emotional vocal wailing to complex runs and perfect note choices. Like “Flashback,” “Palabra” is spacey, abrasive and dissonant, but the band brings the tone down a notch on the next track, “Keep Walking.”

Imagine you’re at a party and everyone’s crowded together in the kitchen trying to talk over everyone else, two dude-guys are screaming at each other over a beer-pong table, and you can barely move, never mind get to the keg, so you step out to the backyard for a cigarette. It’s a beautiful, starry night; soft harmonics and a soothing deep bass line trickling from a dark screen window behind you. That’s what the beginning of “Keep Walking” feels like, a calming break from the chaotic kitchen.

This is one area where the “The Biggest Bang” really excels; it’s a complete, fully realized album, not just a bunch of tracks thrown together on a CD. The album has a shape and form to it, dynamically rising and dropping at all the right places, and best of all, there’s no filler.

“Keep Walking” calms the album down at just the right time, then picks it back up again slowly. About two and a half minutes into the song, the dynamic starts to rise, led by a solid bass line laid down by Vermont native David Pelletier. Imagine you’re in the backyard again, thinking you’re alone, when all of a sudden you notice a tent set up in the next door neighbor’s yard. You walk over and there are people there, but not too many, and there’s a keg and a band playing and everyone’s dancing, so you grab a beer and start dancing too, still feeling calm, but grooving again.

The track continues to rise and leads beautifully into “Vanessa From Nebraska,” a fast-paced, punkish tune that transforms into prog-rock, then gets broken up by a bluesy sax solo from Seth Bailin that sounds like he’s wailing from a rooftop across town, before kicking right back into overdrive.
“Buffalo and Blu,” is a horn driven force that continues to show the band’s ability to switch styles, tones, and pace within a single track. Blending reggae, Spanish, Latin, blues, funk, and featuring an incredible solo from trombonist Josh Filgate.

“Chenopods,” “Cojones Libres,” and “Goloka” further showcase the incredible chops of Filgate, Bailin and Albertelly, the metal and jazz prowess possessed between guitarists Mike Cantor and Adam Pelletier and the ability to blend the two styles, and Callabrese’s drum parts are downright incredible.

“Take the Wheel” might be my favorite track on the album, (maybe tied for first with “Keep Walking.”) It opens with some seriously wacky sounds from Bob Greel on the keyboard, sounding like it could be track five off Herbie Hancock’s “Headhunters.” Just when the song sounds like its not going anywhere, the horns kick in with foreboding howls, and the song continues to do what the album has been doing the whole time, utilizing the whole spectrum of sounds, dynamics, and styles to create a multi-dimensional musical journey.

Closing out the album is “Forinho Magico,” a dark yet danceable tune, and just in case you forgot that these guys can play their instruments, this last track leaves no doubt.

“The Biggest Bang” would be an incredible album if it were put out by an established band with a catalogue of albums to its name, and for a freshman effort, it is just about unreal. Goosepimp Orchestra has a very promising future, and with their busy touring schedule, I would not be surprised to see their popularity shoot through the roof on the strength of “The Biggest Bang.” Catch them while you can still see them in small venues; they’ll be headlining Bonaroo in no time.

Goosepimp Orchestra will be performing at The Wobbly Barn in Kilington, VT on February 18th, and taking the stage with Spiritual Rez the following night, Friday February 19th, at Nectar’s in Burlington.

More Info:

Goosepimp Orchestra | MySpace

Club Metronome certainly rocked February 4th during their Burlington Rocks For Haiti benefit. Pulse Prophets, The Gordon Stone Band, Bearquarium, Events Are Objects, and the Haitian drumming ensemble, Guayoyo, sang, strummed, and drummed as the crowd danced and donated ($10 at the door) into the early morning hours.

Pulse Prophets—the five-man band—passionately played their reggae rock, reverberating their voices, guitar, keyboard, bass, and drums throughout the club. “Hold Tight,” “Mama’s Slingin’ Trees,” and “Love Shine Bright” are just some of their songs they excitedly belted out.    After finishing a tune, lead vocalist, Elijah Kraatz, made an ardent appeal to the audience.

“We hope [many donations come,] cause the folks in Haiti need help.”

Kraatz seemed heartfelt about helping Haiti.

“I just think about what people must be going through,” said Kraatz. While he would love to physically go to Haiti and help with efforts, he said, “For me, it’s not that realistic.” How Kraatz is happy to give back is by “[playing] music for benefits like this.”

Next up was Guayoyo. Stuart Paton led the half-circle of the six-person male and female group, which banged on drums, big, medium, and small. Some played using only their hands, while Paton used a gavel-like tool and Bruce McKencie beat with drum sticks. Guayoyo’s fast and slow rhythmic style really hyped up the audience; listeners couldn’t keep their toes from tapping or their bodies from moving.

Fellow tapper, Seth Kirschner, a Southern California native, stated that he “came [to the benefit] to support a good cause.”

Kirschner’s pal, Phil Bickel, agreed, saying that he showed up “to support the Haiti relief efforts and to see some of the bands play.”

“It’s close to my heart,” said Kirschner. “It’s such a devastating, tragic event. If you’re not touched by it then you’re not paying attention.”

Bickel stated that the Haiti earthquake didn’t affect him directly, but rather indirectly.

“We’re all living in this planet and anytime a natural disaster occurs anywhere, when something happens, we gotta do what we can to help out.”

Geoff and Wendy Mcloughlin, South Burlington residents, also said that the earthquake didn’t affect them in their everyday lives, but now they realize how fortunate they are.

“We’re very lucky. So it’s nice to be able to send out to people who need it,” Wendy commented.

Brett Robinson, a University of Vermont student, said that he came to the benefit to donate and listen to music. If given the opportunity to go to Haiti and help with the relief efforts, Robinson said that he would go “right away.”

After Guayoyo finished, The Gordon Stone Band, comprised of Gordon Stone and his Vermont-based band, went up. They jammed out with their bluegrass-jazz-African-world-beat-funk sound and on their final song they were even accompanied by Patton on his drum.

Guayoyo brought their Haitian sound again in between sets as Gordon Stone left the stage and Bearquarium prepared.

The members of Guayoyo have been playing “for a very long time,” stated Paton, so it only “made sense to participate” in the benefit.

Paton also said that, having once lived in Tokyo, he has experienced some earthquakes and other members also “have an inkling for what it’s like.”

“Haiti has contributed to our quality of life,” commented Paton, “we have some Haiti music to give back.”

Paton said that the benefit “is a gesture and brings our attention together.”

“We’re doing better to be doing something,” Paton added.

Around midnight after Guayoyo took another break, the eight-person group that is Bearquarium pumped up the pulse of the place. Their creative culmination of sounds from their congas, guitars, trombone, and trumpet and other instruments electrified the dance-crazed audience into a flame of hop-skip-jumps. Red, green, and blue firefly-like lights flew around the club and spots of purple, teal, and yellow flashes colored the room.

“You guys are great,” said the Seth-Rogan-Zach Galifianakis look-a-like lead vocalist, Justin Panigutti. “That’s a tune called ‘Sol Agabido,” Panigutti continued, “and that’s what it’s all about. Soul, humanity, kinship, being human, that’s why we’re here….Send some love out to Haiti.”

Josh Weinstein, Bearquarium’s bassist, and Corey Wilhelm, Bearquarium’s percussionist, both said that they wanted to contribute to “the good cause.”

“Just seeing the aftermath really…affected me emotionally,” stated Wilhelm. “[I really] appreciate the life I do have.”

Much of the crowd appreciated Bearquarium, as “Yeaaaah,” “Whooo,” and “Fuck yeah Bearquarium!” were shouted after Panigutti put all of his heart into his harmonica and Gordon Clark and Dave Purcell wailed on their trombone and trumpet respectively.

Last, but in no way least, Events Are Objects began their set around 1 a.m. The crowd had mellowed out, but the listeners who were still at the benefit hadn’t lost their energy and enthusiasm for the four Objects during their benefit-ending set.

Overall, the benefit raised over $1,500 for Haiti, said Drew Jameson, who handles promotion at Nectar’s.

Jameson said that the Haiti earthquake is “definitely a tragedy” and the people of Nectar’s and Club Metronome thought that the benefit “was the best thing we can do to give back and help the cause.”

“I’d like to think that the people in Burlington hold a soft spot for things such as this,” continued Jameson.

More Info:

Club Metronome Website