Music Induced Euphoria
1/29/2010
link
"Band of the Week: Woozy Viper
For fans of: King Khan, The Velvet Underground, White Denim, The Doors
There’s a scene in the Oliver Stone film The Doors, just before the
band get signed. It’s them playing at a tiny club, and the mostly female
crowd are absolutely intoxicated with Jim Morrison’s stage presence.
Even though the band was what we would now consider an “indie” band at
the time—unknown and unadulterated, the righteousness of the music just
poured into the room and enraptured everyone around. There is a certain
quality in great unsigned bands, there’s nothing else quite like it.
They know how good they are, you know how good they are, and the whole
room is just waiting for the rest of the world to catch on.
This is what Woozy Viper’s music sounds like to me. At times, they
remind me of The Doors (like on “Love Scented Candles”). Mostly, they
just make me damned proud of being an American. Lo-fi music via the
Midwest never sounded so good. Luke and Mitch Meseke are brothers who
come from Kansas. And all they wanna do-oo is make sweet love to your
ears. The music is gritty and repetitive, but in a really appealing way.
It’s infantile, but not immature. What I mean is that, especially on
songs like “Whoa Baby”, the band manages to draw me back to my own
childhood (even though I grew up in a suburb, not on a ranch). It’s
nostalgic by default, not definition.
You know how some bands are obviously trying NOT to impress, but
those are the ones you end up loving the most. The irony is oh so
delicious.
The NYC-based duo is so confident in their inevitable future blow-up
success that they’re offering their self titled debut for free online.
You should do yourself a favour and get acquainted with their songs now,
before everyone claims to have always loved them.
You-know-exactly-what-I’m-talking-bout-Willis. When you’re done, you can
join me as I anxiously wait on some tour dates."
Friday, January 29, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Jungle Rot review
Jungle Rot
1/24/2010
link
"Woozy Viper is a band from Brooklyn making rootsy blues punk tunes. That description doesn't really do it justice. The dudes on the album cover say it all. Anyways, you can download this whole biatch for free over at there website. Get it, you won't regret it."
1/24/2010
link
"Woozy Viper is a band from Brooklyn making rootsy blues punk tunes. That description doesn't really do it justice. The dudes on the album cover say it all. Anyways, you can download this whole biatch for free over at there website. Get it, you won't regret it."
Friday, January 22, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Get Off The Coast review
Get Off The Coast
1/16/2010
link
"If one thing remains evident about me, I hope it's that I absolutely love dirty, bluesy garage-rock. I don't get why anyone wouldn't. Woozy Viper gives us exactly that. Their name is their sound. This is poison that goes down smoother and slicker than anything you've ever encountered. And they're giving away their first album for free. Drink it on down."
1/16/2010
link
"If one thing remains evident about me, I hope it's that I absolutely love dirty, bluesy garage-rock. I don't get why anyone wouldn't. Woozy Viper gives us exactly that. Their name is their sound. This is poison that goes down smoother and slicker than anything you've ever encountered. And they're giving away their first album for free. Drink it on down."
Cows Are Just Food review
Cows Are Just Food (UK)
1/16/2010
link
"so the finally part of saturday’s rum trilogy. two fellas. twelve songs. one free record. woozy viper: a good name to roll around the mouth and one that positively drips off the tongue.
hard for me not to dig this given it’s nods to the velvets, stones, stooges, femmes. total mucky sixties garage vibe with bits o’ blooze chucked in like some miniature exile on main street. creeping skeletal blues inflections aside, it’s sparse and to the point, no fucking around rock and roll. simple. basic. all played with a scruffy skuzzy swagger. and there ain’t a goddam thing wrong with that.
as opening lines go ‘i got graveyard dirt in my mouth’ is a pretty good one. but the highlight for me is the shuffling two chord fuzz of king kong and it’s amusing giant-monkey film / sexual politics metaphor: “he didn’t give a shit until some girl messed with his head and he wound up dead”.
indeed."
1/16/2010
link
"so the finally part of saturday’s rum trilogy. two fellas. twelve songs. one free record. woozy viper: a good name to roll around the mouth and one that positively drips off the tongue.
hard for me not to dig this given it’s nods to the velvets, stones, stooges, femmes. total mucky sixties garage vibe with bits o’ blooze chucked in like some miniature exile on main street. creeping skeletal blues inflections aside, it’s sparse and to the point, no fucking around rock and roll. simple. basic. all played with a scruffy skuzzy swagger. and there ain’t a goddam thing wrong with that.
as opening lines go ‘i got graveyard dirt in my mouth’ is a pretty good one. but the highlight for me is the shuffling two chord fuzz of king kong and it’s amusing giant-monkey film / sexual politics metaphor: “he didn’t give a shit until some girl messed with his head and he wound up dead”.
indeed."
Thursday, January 14, 2010
SF Critic review
SF Critic
1/14/2010
link
"Woozy Viper is what you would call a palate-cleanser. Kansas-born and bred brothers Luke and Mitch Meseke recorded a lo-fi 12 song debut, put it up for free download with nothing but some seriously simple album art. It is an album of back-to-basics rock and roll songs, two scruffy vocalists, and tin can percussion. They sing songs about paying the rent, about wanting nice cars, and girls. They're the kind of rough and twangy songs that hearken back to a simpler time before "indie rock" was nearly synonymous with a heavy use of synthesizers (not that that's a bad thing). The songs are stylish and classic without seeming overly referential. For every song that overtly sounds like The Beatles or Johnny Cash, there are hints of Kurt Cobain's anguished drawl (on "The Switchblade Swing") or Sublime's plucky ska baselines (like "Dirty Rat"). They're a little bit country, a little Rolling Stones, and all-around enjoyable."
1/14/2010
link
"Woozy Viper is what you would call a palate-cleanser. Kansas-born and bred brothers Luke and Mitch Meseke recorded a lo-fi 12 song debut, put it up for free download with nothing but some seriously simple album art. It is an album of back-to-basics rock and roll songs, two scruffy vocalists, and tin can percussion. They sing songs about paying the rent, about wanting nice cars, and girls. They're the kind of rough and twangy songs that hearken back to a simpler time before "indie rock" was nearly synonymous with a heavy use of synthesizers (not that that's a bad thing). The songs are stylish and classic without seeming overly referential. For every song that overtly sounds like The Beatles or Johnny Cash, there are hints of Kurt Cobain's anguished drawl (on "The Switchblade Swing") or Sublime's plucky ska baselines (like "Dirty Rat"). They're a little bit country, a little Rolling Stones, and all-around enjoyable."
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Small Town Pleasures press
Small Town Pleasures (Greece)
1/7/2010
link
"I can say it's a pretty good album & if I can describe it I could say something between early Velvets & Stooges or something like that...I'm sure you'll like it!"
1/7/2010
link
"I can say it's a pretty good album & if I can describe it I could say something between early Velvets & Stooges or something like that...I'm sure you'll like it!"
Friday, January 1, 2010
Bloggerhythms review
Bloggerhythms
1/1/2010
link
"Luke and Mitch Meseke, the two brothers who are Woozy Viper, originally hail from Kansas and, unfortunately, that is virtually everything that is known about them. There is no biographical information anywhere online. Their MySpace page tells us nothing except that they are now living in New York City's outer boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. They are even giving their debut CD away for free on their one page website so apparently music is just their hobby. They only want to create it, not earn a living by it. Considering all of the above, why write about this new band? Because these boys are really onto something and they need to get their publicity machine revved up quickly. Their eponymous debut is a rock 'n roll breath of fresh air in a genre that has become increasingly stale.
The disc is a sparsely produced and arranged set of songs that fits Woozy Viper's low profile. All twelve tracks sound like unfinished demos but the simplicity is part of the music's charm. The brothers season their lo-fi garage rock with both acoustic guitars and an attitude but they also possess a sense of humor that is frequently missing in an art form that often takes itself far too seriously. For example, "Love Scented Candles" is a brief 1:44 in length and has no other lyrics except for it's title. Overall, the brothers have conjured up a tasty musical stew for anyone who likes rock 'n roll that is not trying to save the world.
There appears to be no information available anywhere regarding who sings, who wrote the songs, or who plays what instruments. Those unanswered questions add to the mystery surrounding the brothers. I'm anxious to see where they go from here."
1/1/2010
link
"Luke and Mitch Meseke, the two brothers who are Woozy Viper, originally hail from Kansas and, unfortunately, that is virtually everything that is known about them. There is no biographical information anywhere online. Their MySpace page tells us nothing except that they are now living in New York City's outer boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. They are even giving their debut CD away for free on their one page website so apparently music is just their hobby. They only want to create it, not earn a living by it. Considering all of the above, why write about this new band? Because these boys are really onto something and they need to get their publicity machine revved up quickly. Their eponymous debut is a rock 'n roll breath of fresh air in a genre that has become increasingly stale.
The disc is a sparsely produced and arranged set of songs that fits Woozy Viper's low profile. All twelve tracks sound like unfinished demos but the simplicity is part of the music's charm. The brothers season their lo-fi garage rock with both acoustic guitars and an attitude but they also possess a sense of humor that is frequently missing in an art form that often takes itself far too seriously. For example, "Love Scented Candles" is a brief 1:44 in length and has no other lyrics except for it's title. Overall, the brothers have conjured up a tasty musical stew for anyone who likes rock 'n roll that is not trying to save the world.
There appears to be no information available anywhere regarding who sings, who wrote the songs, or who plays what instruments. Those unanswered questions add to the mystery surrounding the brothers. I'm anxious to see where they go from here."
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