Zippy Josh & The Rag Tag Band

Item: Stupidville
Author: Doug Van Pelt

Stupidville

(1999)

Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt

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Label Screaming Giant RecordsHM Magazine #79September 1999

acoustic blues country punk

Here's a 12-song disc from Josh Handley, who plays guitar for Officer Negative. They call themselves "the finest in cow punk." Joining Josh in the Rag Tag Band are Brandon Baizian on drums and Tim Duzan on bass. I'm reminded of The Altar Boys or, more specifically, Mike Stand's solo performances of Altar Boys' material. It's not too distant from Nirvana's cover of the Meat Puppet's song, "Lake of Fire" from the Unplugged In New York album. Very raw music with the vocals up in front of acoustic instrumentation. Meat Puppets fans should definitely appreciate this disc, although the blunt lyrical content might hit them a bit hard. The country-fied sounds of "Salvation Train" offer up one of the catchiest tunes here. All it's missing in order to enter the Blues Hall of Fame is a nasty harmonica accompaniment. While mostly laid-back, this raw album is real and it's edgy enough to fancy the open minded listeners of Officer Negative and melodic enough to get the notice of Lost Dogs fans.