Midwestern rockers Ghettobillies rock out with their cocks out. Dan Nied tells you why.
It may be the songs about “suckin’ dick and squeezin’ titites”. It may be the rip roaring bar acoustics at Brewster’s Pourhouse in Bowling Green, Ohio. Hell, it may have been the three pitchers of beer I drowned in over the course of the night. But most likely, it was the band.
No matter what the reason, it was during the last song of an April 30 set when the Ghettobillies had me hooked.
While belting out “One of Us,” a sing along drinking song with an inescapable bouncing hook, the Ghettobillies proved that they are one of the greatest bands in the world to get drunk with.
And while few know about the Chicago based, Michigan native rockers, they display a refreshing musical honesty that, if there is any justice in the business, will take them far beyond their current Midwest regional status. But even if that isn’t the case, nothing can take away from the fact that in the regional band business, when most acts are striving to be the next Dave Matthews or John Mayer, the Ghettobillies are simply being the Ghettobillies and making it work for them.
To label them would be unfair, just an inaccurate jumble of bands that you might lump them in with. Are they a Weird Al Yankovic/Jamiroquai half breed? Are they a cross between Tenacious D and Black Sabbath? Take your pick, make up your own comparisons. What you get with the Ghettobillies is rock with a pop twist garnished with perfectly perverse, yet insightful lyrics that any young male can identify with.
But where did the Ghettobillies peak on that last day of April in Bowling Green? Was it with “One of Us"? A song that sums up the band’s message with lines like "Do ya like to show off your big ass balls?...Then you just might be one of us". Surely that was a high point. Or were they at their best belting out the blowjob anthem “Open Wide?” Maybe “CHiPs”, their ode to the greatest TV cop show of the 70s got the crowd roaring more. The folksy acoustics of “My First Porno” could shine on any night and was particularly potent at Brewsters.
But therein lies the genius of the Ghettobillies. Their entire catalogue is begging to be identified with. These songs are about more than blow jobs, porno and TV cops. They are about the rights of passage that life presents to every man. And every man is what the Ghettobillies are. While they take the stage with Gwar-esque pseudonyms (the Reverend C. Cobb on vocals, Bong, or Lord Bon Bons on the Bass, Pope D. Licious on guitar and the Holy Maloney on drums) they are mid-20s guys with day jobs that know what its like to have a love interest mistake you’re gay. Through their music, they’ve pondered how quickly youth recedes and explored the social taboos of wearing women’s underwear and taking home a transvestite. And through every perfectly lewd minute the Ghettobillies display musical talent and sensibility.
Their first full length album, "Some Rezeev", is an all acoustic effort with a handful of gems like “Porno”, “CHiPs” and “Captain Ron”. It all wraps up ingeniously with “Poo Boot Scooty”, about, well, a poopy boot. From there the band intertwined the acoustic and electric sound with “Butterface”. For their third, and latest, effort the Ghettobillies tightened up their electric guitars with the nearly flawless nine-song “Still in the Pink” which wraps up with “One of us” and a parody of the Facts of Life Theme Song. Of course, any of these albums, along with a new live effort can be picked up at www.ghettobillies.com.
They pull it all together with a high energy, sometimes choreographed live show that thrives off the band’s fun loving demeanor. Last month’s Bowling Green show spanned their usual three sets and seemed to climax at least three times before the Ghettobillies actually blew their musical load.
Sure, with lyrics like “Sometimes you have to show you know/how to give a guy a blow” from “The Facts of Life”, they may not be the reincarnation of Bob Dylan but the Ghettobillies have their own brand of culturally relevant pop rock that combines with an impressive live show. And that’s all they need to be themselves.