by Octavius
On Saturday night, I went out to a house party (AKA Porchfest) to see Pizza! and Big Whup. I heard this house used to be called the "Girl house", cuz there was once a time when all the girls living in this house were dating all the boys that were living in another house. Big Whup are some guys from Pizza! and some of the girls from the house. It's somebody's birthday, and I don't know her name, although we said Hi to each other..... One thing I do know is that I've become more obsessed with Pizza! as every month passes.
Back when they were called The New Motherfuckers, I wasn't incredibly impressed. They were a lot like a lot of other noisy loud bratty kids that come through KXLU. But THEN..... I kept hearing about their new band Pizza!.
First of all, getting a CD by a band in the mail called Pizza! IS hilarious in itself. My first thought was, "Who doesn't love Pizza?" It reminded me of the old college joke of calling your band Free Beer, so that the flyer from your show attracts more people. And then written in a black sharpie on the back was a track called "Gay Hotel California." Again, this is genius. It still makes me laugh every time I say it. I'm even laughing typing it.
So, I saw them at Boardner's at a Let's Independent Show, and they blew me away. I mean....all of a sudden Geoff (lead singer) was channeling the movements of David Byrne and Ian Curtis. The band sounds....kinda 80's actually....not like ANY other band in L.A. I can think of. And the songs are good. Geoff just totally plays the part of an honest to god possessed rock idol, and it totally works. If there is an "It" then this guy has "It." I see them and I think, "There is no limit to where these guys can go with this."
I gave their CD a few more listens and found some really smart but subtle political tunes like "The Future?" and "Repress Yourself". And then there's songs which actually tell a story that you can sing....like "Griffith Park Fire" whose lyrics read like a shorthand version of a journal entry. Why not write a song about one of the many Griffith Park fires... We can all identify with that, right? And isn't music supposed to be a record of history, traditionally? I find it interesting anyways... Kinda like a song about Jonny Apple seed, or Old McDonald, or cavemen singing songs about last year's hunt while sitting around a fire ... Ok, maybe I'm stretching here.
But I've come to know these guys, and the more I get to know them, the more I'm intrigued by them. Outside The Echo Curio one night, Geoff told me about the 3D posters they're making for the band, pointing to one in the window. He talked to me about his book "The Audacity of Blood", which he made I believe in November 2007. It's basically Barack Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope, defaced and converted into a pop-up collage art piece, with dioramas of the apocalypse, playing off of the religious conspiracy theorist fears. I also noticed he left a flyer advertising his URL for the book, in a recent Demo they mailed me. I opened the package at work, and it had a montage of Barack Obama sitting on top of a pyramid of skulls. I quickly turned the page over so my co-workers wouldn't see it, and giggled. "Those f*ckers..." I thought. "Now this is on my desk...." They may as well have mailed me a swastika.
I mean... What is MORE subversive than messing with Barack Obama? NOTHING! We've all seen upside down crucifixes, satanic death imagery, and naked pictures, but NObody, messes with our new president. And, I find it REALLY funny actually......and the art made me realize just how taboo it is. And then....to add to all this, when Pizza! played on Demolisten on Friday, further discussions led to Geoff's Blog.
His blog is called Unemploymentblog.wordpress.com. (How does he get all the good names?) It's basically a blog he started once he became unemployed. And gee, what ELSE would be on his blog other than pornographic montages of Barack and Joe Biden taking part in different pornographic scenes.
Now, I know for a FACT that Geoff, and probably the rest of the band actually LIKE Barack Obama, as do I. BUT I totally understand why it's hilarious. The confused and nasty messages written under his Youtube video of The Audacity of Blood explains it perfectly. Art is ONLY good if it creates a reaction in people. The art itself is nothing without the reaction, whether positive or negative. I would start that sentence with "I believe" but I wrote it, so I think you know I believe it.
It reminds me of Vivienne Westwood, and the controversy of punk imagery in England in1979. I don't think Pizza! is that obnoxious, but SOMEbody needs to keep the flame alive.
AND, their myspace URL is good, myspace.com/honkifyoulovepizza. I also found out the band has a rule against any pizza imagery. Again.... very smart.
These guys KNOW what they're doing. They're artists in the true sense. Just look at their flyers! And although I've gone on and on about Geoff, the other guys are equally witty, funny, and fun. Here's an interview I did with Tyler (drummer) outside the party.
I started writing this with the intention of talking about this great house party in Silver Lake overlooking Sunset Blvd with a bunch of friends I didn't know, and Peter Choyce (KXLU DJ) and my finacee and how we all had a great time and everyone welcomed us into their home and treated us like friends. But instead I'll just say you should listen to Pizza!.
Here's a video of Pizza! performing live on KXLU Demolisten.
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