The Giraffes are a band you have to see to believe. I’ve been following these guys for a few years and seen many a benefit show for them, whether it was for guitarist Damien Paris who was shot in a White Castle by an off duty cop while he was on a drunken spree after a show or for lead singer Aaron Lazar, who recently suffered two heart attacks in one day and had to have a pacemaker put into his chest. If that doesn’t say just how crazy this band is, then pick up their recently released first major label album and listen to the mayhem to fully understand just what these guys are capable of.
Each song on this album is a hard rocking ball of fury with some interesting lyrics. Take their single “Man U” which begins with a surf guitar drenched intro and turns into a California punk flavored ballad about a couple being harassed at a soccer game by skinheads. The chorus of “You’re going home in a fucking ambulance” is one of the most satirically funny lines in a song that I can remember in recent memory! One of the best tracks on The Giraffes album overall is a song called “Million $ Man” which shows the chops and variety that this band not only has but has the potential to build up to. It starts off fast and furious, with heavy punk flavored guitar work that defies the laws of speed. Aaron Lazar stands out here the most as his vocal range gets pushed to the limit from speech to screaming at the top of his lungs. After having his pacemaker put in I wondered if he would even survive his own performances from screaming that loud, now I just wonder if his head will explode from the dynamics of his vocal range. I’m sure he couldn’t care either way as long as it’s a good show!
“Blckntwhtcstl” begins and exits in a magnificent ball of fire! I don’t know what that really means but the song sounds like a plane is going down, and I mean that in the best way possible. These guys scream and play hard maintaining not only a heavy groove but a working vibe together that makes them fascinating to hear. The only thing more interesting than what they play is seeing them live, which I stress is a must if you like what you hear.
A combination of things makes this band one of the best bands that have come out of Brooklyn in the last few years. Lead singer Aaron Lazar sounds like a mad man with the ability to write insane lyrics that work and has the stage presence of a gun slinger with his curly mustachioed bravado. Drummer Drew Totolas fits in perfectly as his drum playing is just as violent and varied as Lazar’s lyrics. Bassist Drew Rosenthal takes more of a minimalist approach, not overplaying while not underplaying, which gives everyone a chance to shine just as brightly as he does. Lastly but definitely not last, it’s guitarist Damien Paris who stands out the most for me as he sounds like a musician suffering from A.D.D. as he seems to just tear the fret board on his guitar apart from song to song. If you listen to what he’s doing, nothing really sounds the same in any song, and it is for that reason that as a guitarist he is not only spectacular but one of the most original musicians I have heard in a long time. On top of that he is out of his friggin mind, as I’ve seen him solo, pants down, penis against his guitar for their recent CD release show. So if you get to see these guys live, don’t expect to see and hear anything less than a visual representation of exactly what raw rock n’ roll is and should be, a car crash in action with victims everywhere and an audience to applaud after it’s all over. Let’s just say they put on one hell of a show! |