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Denver's own Inactivists remind
me of a certain genre of New Orleans music made
by punks who love Tom Waits and live in a city full
of working jazz musicians who get off their gigs
at midnight and proceed to drown their sorrows in
whiskey and outlandish music. Bands like this perfected
a combination of lounge music with unusual instruments--electric
ukulele, anyone?--and ridiculous song subjects--fantastic
chair?
The Inactivists' schtick could get old easily
if it were all "Fantastic Chair" and
"Won'cha Hit Me In the Face?" but it's
got straighter "love" songs, like "The
Girl on the Bus," which features the lyric
"Are you an out-of-your-mind/fashion genius/or
are you blind?" but nevertheless is a fairly
cute ode to the oddly dressed girl next door.
Flashes of ska rhythms show up between songs reminiscent
of Tom Waits at his weirdest, and the whole picture
together has a vibe almost like that of They Might
Be Giants, while sounding almost nothing like
them.
The Inactivists are certainly eclectic, and one
can't knock their creative musical arrangements.
Their songs will make you giggle for sure, even
if 15 tracks of them get a little grating. They
also win the award for the cutest album cover
I've ever seen, hands down--a huge-eyed, sad-looking
little cartoon rooster.
www.inactivists.com
-Sarah Jaffe, June 10, 2005
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