Finally, a rock band that reminds me of why I loose so much sleep listening, reading about, researching, and seeing music while also loathing the contrived, formulated pre-teen pop that seems to be everywhere we turn these days. Maybelline eye shadow and Gap fashion spreads does not a rock ‘n’ roll band make. And sometimes I don’t want to listen to music that appeals to both an 11 year-old and an 80 year-old in one sitting.
Triclops!, on the other hand, burns under the skin, bringing back those days of when you’re fifteen again—pissed off about who the hell knows what, but full of energy and overwhelming defiance.
I got to experience those feelings again when I checked out the “four mean old fuckers” at Emo’s Jr. at SXSW who were birthed from other S.F. Bay Area bands, including Bottles and Skulls, Victim’s Family, Fleshies and Lower Forty-Eight.
Put it this way, it was the closest I had gotten to getting a fat lip since I can’t remember when. Johnny (lead singer) is, simply put, a mad man when he puts a mic in his hand. And his frenetic presence is infective, causing his audience to react in the same way, as I experienced when trying to shoot the show and not dodging a flying foot fast enough.
Triclops! has been on tour in support of their recent EP, Cafeteria Brutalia, released on Sick Room Records and home to AM Syndicate, Hella, and Che Arthur.
The meaning behind the “Mi Plisboy” must be an insider joke or over my head, but it doesn’t matter, could cause a riot in a funeral home. And it would be one hell of a fun funeral.
The way the band switches gears on “Jewels of Oakland,” from nuclear blast to long walks on the beach, and back again is what keeps your ears glued to the speakers.
The exasperating sound of exhaustion flows from Johnny as he falls into a psychedelic poetic rant midway through “Bug Bomb,” slithering from the depths of a smoky, beer stained pub, replete with layers of concert posters from years gone by.
“And now mosquitoes are florescent blue and riddled with diseases that they don’t have names for yet/Keep on taking those antibiotics…Things decompose faster here…I heard/Put nature to the test with a bug bomb/It’s not good enough/Nature wants to kill you.”
It’s over 10 minutes of all out fury, as if Jim Morrison got pissed off about the state of the music today and took over the body of young Johnny to perform his exorcism.
Triclops! joins a number of bands getting a buzz for their brand of roots based punk. Keep an eye out on their touring schedule. You will not be sorry. Just make sure to avoid the flying shoe in your face.
www.sickroomrecords.com
www.triclopsband.com
www.myspace.com/triclopsband
