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AS UGLY
AS THEY WANNA BE Vocals:
Whitfield Crane Remember when rock 'n' roll was fun? Ugly Kid Joe does. Yes, Virginia, there once was a time when bands were formed without A&R people in mind. Before MTV numbed brains. A simpler time. When man could live on Doritos and a six-pack. Beer, beaches, and broads. Ugly Kid Joe celebrates a return to rock's primal, party-time urges with the 5 3/4 songs on As Ugly As They Wanna Be, their premiere EP on Stardog Records, distributed through Important Records Distribution. "Quality so good you can step in it and wipe it off on the curb." "Pasteurized processed cheese metal." "A light, medium alloy." These are but just a few of the ways the Ugly Kids describe their approach. Clearly, this is not a well bunch of guys. Proof positive: As kids, first album purchases included Kiss, Ohio Players, and ABBA. The band contains a college graduate and a high school drop out. A Union '76 orange ball fanatic. A former roadie. A cook. Tall tales abound, too. Whit claims he met bandmate Klaus when Whit's dad "mulched" Klaus's cat with the lawn mower. And that's about the only thing The Ugly Kids haven't written about. Yet. Songs on As Ugly As They Wanna Be run the gamut from "Whiplash Liquor," the ultimate high school "while-the-parents-are-away-the-kids-will-party" tune, to "Madman", a song about a certain type of guy in a certain amusement park doing certain things. The unexpected sentiment in the rollicking "Everything About You" was inspired by a friend who "dissed everyone", while "Too Bad" is a true tale about manic depressives. Then there's "Sweet Leaf/Funky Fresh Country Club" a tune that moves from the classic Black Sabbath number into a story about the Santa Barbara County Jail. From an inside perspective, naturally. And let's not forget the epic opus "Heavy Metal" a thoughtful, carefully crafted (yeah, right!) band composition which accounts for about 1/3. Produced by Ryan Dorne (who's engineered for Bang Tango and Faster Pussycat) at L.A.'s NRG Studios, As Ugly As They Wanna Be features the guest fingers of actress Carrie Hamilton on piano. And the manic, unhomogenized stylings of the UGLY KIDS in all their sweaty glory. Ugly Kid Joe formed in 1989 in Isla Vista, California, "the most densely populated square mile West of the Mississippi." It's a college town, near Santa Barbara, where kids groove to the mellow sounds of reggae, ride bikes, indulge in frequent social drinking, wear shorts and thongs, and have white teeth. And then there's the scar marring Isla Vista's facade: Ugly Kid Joe. No one's ugly. No one's named Joe. Though they reside north of L.A., the band wasn't oblivious to the Sunset Strip scene, and took their name as an antithesis to the glam band Pretty Boy Floyd. Ugly Kid Joe gigged locally, their wild performances drawing raves. Their premiere album will follow As Ugly As They Wanna Be by about six months. Still, says Whit, they're pretty laid-back about the whole thing. "It's not, [to be said in German accent], 'We are a band. Listen to us." The Isla Vista locals didn't freak that their favorite good-time band was headed for the big time. "It's no big deal up there. Everyone's like 'signed? What did you guys sign?" The strong musicianship and songs are there, but fun was the main things on the Ugly Kids agenda. "It started as a joke, and it still is," quips Whit. Ugly Kid Joe's As Ugly As They Wanna Be. Take 'em with a grain of salt.
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