Sometimes location is everything. The Salad Boys came together at the end of 2012 in Christchurch, New Zealand; a country whose infamous musical legacy is so woven into the fabric of modern independent music, many hardly realize it's there. The band formed as many do, with members Joe Sampson (12-string guitar/vocals), Ben Odering (bass) & Jim Nothing (drums) mucking around in their spare time from other groups (T54, Bang! Bang! Eche!, The Dance Asthmatics), fleshing out spare song ideas that Sampson had in his back pocket. The band's name comes from a misheard line in the second verse of The Feelies song "Fa Cé La" - a joke name that they had assumed they'd change eventually, but never did. It was all too casual, but with an end-goal to create something all too serious.
Live, The Salad Boys perform a wondrous assault: a charged up blitz of clanging guitars, intoxicating drones, head-down acid repetition and an abundance of dazzling pop hooks - birthed in the band's living room rehearsal space, & perfected in a live setting. Their reputation has scored the group a wealth of engagements up and down New Zealand including slots at the Camp a Low Hum and Chronophonium festivals, gigs with Sebadoh, The Bats, & Parquet Courts as well as a highly honorable spot performing as backing band for David Kilgour of legendary New Zealand group The Clean. The band prefers things on a smaller scale, however - finding joy & inspiration playing DIY spaces & house parties. That spirit combined with the band's dizzying live intensity bring an underlying urgency to both the rocking & mellow tunes on Metalmania.
Despite its tongue-in-cheek title, The Salad Boys' debut album Metalmania is an instantly catchy & diverse set of (non-metal) pop tunes. The warm jangle of album opener "Here's No Use" greets the listener with open arms; a familiar acoustic strum that leads into an inviting melody & poetic, yearning lyrics. Conversely, the guitars of "Dream Date" supercharge the eardrums with a jolt of adrenalin, motoring thru a triumphant toe-tapper. Side B opener "No-Taste Bomber" is an instant jam, rocketing forward with a concise 12-string jangle that explodes into an epic, paisley-tinted guitar maelstrom of a rocker, driving & droning the jam skyward. Metalmania is a careful but curious balance of well-informed pop melodies, hypnotizing rhythms and heady instrumentation with surprising & inventive melodic twists peppering the album's ten songs.
Catch The Salad Boys at Maudie’s on Sunday, September 27th at 11:30p!
