One thing that is missing from the current music world is a sense of fun. A sense of, “Who gives a fuck? Let’s just play what we want to play!” The last two times this happened was when the Red Hot Chili Peppers came out swinging with their brand of funk-rock and silliness. The other instance was when Reel Big Fish suddenly found themselves on the radio with the ironic single, “Sell Out.” Since then, there’s been a decisive effort by the “industry” to force bubble-gum pop or super serious tunes down our ears. It’s not to say that bands like Mr. Bungle, Primus or other tongue-in-cheek acts haven’t been crafting tunes, they’ve just been denied a national stage to get the world bouncing off their padded walls. Thankfully, Opposite Box is here to fix that.
This southern six-piece, comprised of vocalist Ryan Long; guitarist Richard Long; bassist Dave Graham; saxophonist (and ladies man) Curtis Warner; drummer Nathan Griffin and fiddle player Mark Fiddler; has mashed the likes of metal riffing, jazz brass sections and manic vocals together to form a hearty goulash of sweat-soaked bad-assery the likes of which no one has seen in a while. Their first full-length, Silly and Infantile is the cure to the world’s Twilight ailments of tragedy and overtly emotional men.
From the auto-tuned bounce house of a track in “System” to the glam-life torpedoing “Hanibal Montana,” the boys pull out all kinds of zany stops to keep their party raging. The only time the train slows is for the organ-driven groove instrumental on “Devil’s Lettuce” and the non-music peppering of random voicemails or shout-outs for ladies who need to be “pleased.”
For fans of the aforementioned groups, Downtown Brown or early Incubus (before they became modern rock gods) Silly and Infantile will make 2011 a good year in music for you.
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