It’s a formula that works as well for rock music as it does for just about everything in life – give yourself a structure and a limited set of tools and then see what you can do without going outside the lines.
The newest offering from King Sexy (Fairfield County’s Best Punk Band as voted by the readers of the Fairfield Weekly) stays true to its narrow mission of powering through three minute punk anthems about one topic – being sexy.
Two of the album’s five tracks contain the word “sexy” in their titles, while the remaining three indicate it in one way or another. For anyone who’s ever encountered lead singer and songwriter, Jeff Coleman, the lyrics of lead track “All Systems Go” – “I feel the vibe/Bing, Bing, Bing, WINNER!” – might be simply the personification of Jeff’s inner voice, or more grandly, a punk rock travelogue of a single man’s Friday night, while the follow up, “MWAH! I’m Sexy” turns it outward, addressing the object of his desire with a blunt introduction: “Hello my name is MWAH! I’m sexy!!!” (exclamation points included).
In Sexycolor is the band’s first with a new line up that includes the aforementioned Mr. Coleman, mainstay guitar player, Frank Zvovushe, and new additions Phil Conine on the drums and Jan Jurglelewicz on the bass and in the producer’s role. We had the pleasure of encountering Mr. Jurglelewicz for the first time at the band’s performance at a recent Downtown event on Baldwin Plaza, what the Downtown Community Council appropriately named “Jeff Coleman Appreciation Day”. His bass playing, hair, and polka dot pants were a perfect complement to Mr. Coleman’s uncensored libido, Mr. Conine’s able drumming, and Mr. Zvovushe’s short shorts.
My personal favorite is the penultimate track “Misery’s Not Attractive” which drops inarguable truths like “Gotta make yourself worth loving” and “Be the flame, not the moth”. According to the liner notes, the track was inspired by the 2005 Heath Ledger vehicle “Casanova” and serves as a sexy man’s pep-talk, encouraging the downtrodden, action-seeking single men to stop their moping and get back on the trail of the hand-bag carrying, tube-top wrapped female masses that populate our city’s bars and clubs. It would behoove the owners of the Black Bear chain to look into adopting it as a theme song.
Clocking in at a total running time of 12:36, In Sexycolor more than deserves your time and attention. It’s a document of a singular artistic vision conceived by a true one-of-a-kind. How sexy is that?
Frank wasn’t wearing his short shorts at that gig! But I know what you mean. He can be a real fashion plate.
Comment by Jeff — October 4th, 2009 @ 10:25 pm