The Strange Boys are a band who formed in Austin, Texas back in 2005 to much local applause: lead vocalist (rhythm guitarist and harmonica) Ryan Sambol, Roky-fanatic Greg Enlow (on lead guitar--Roky-fanatic from Texas, how could he not be?), brother to Ryan: Philip Sambol (bass) and jazzist Matt Hammer (on drums). The group is on a tour supporting Darker My Love (a band who has a sound larger than the stage itself) and played Johnny Brenda's this past Wednesday night. Their music is a mixture of freakbeat, sixties and psychadelic performed with high vocals "His [Ryan] cat-in-a-blender vocals teeter toward annoyance, but even at their worst, they're a perfect match for his blues-tinged, subtle-yet-squealing guitarwork..." (The Dallas Observer). Their songs are full with fuzz and guitar jangle, not to mention their own jazz and blues influences: think a crossover between The Monks, Dylan, Billy Childish, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Art Blakey. Their song repertoire is fairly large as they've been playing for a few years now--they've filled CDs with their demo tracks which they've sold on their recent support dates, and have released two separate samplers for tours, an album and 7" record respectively. We look forward to seeing them live again, and hopefully the release of another full-length, proper, will follow soon. In the meantime, take a listen to their track "Poem Party" from their latest tour sampler:
The Strangeboys photos by Darren O'Toole
And Girls Club CD Sampler Tracklisting:
1. Woe Is You And Me
2. Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up
3. Poem Party
4. Who Needs Who More
5. Then
6. No Way For A Slave To Behave
7. Death And All The Rest
Sure wish I could find an album SOMEWHERE online. Haven't these guys heard of digital distribution?
Posted by: anthony | January 03, 2009 at 10:34 PM