My Fave Band No One Has Heard About...

People ask me all the time, "What is your favorite band?"
That is something that changes for most of us as the years go by, isn't it? I don't know about you, but, I did get over my love of Nirvana and Sublime at some point. I mean, ya, "I smoke two joints in the morning!" We all know the song. I don't even need to play it anymore, it is forever fried into my neural network.

Though, if you dig into the culture of underground music you will find some really interesting specimens that will leave a mark on you in a way that isn't easy to forget. One stands out to me in particular at the moment, as it is the kind of thing music snobs might regard as that weird gem to add to their collection on vinyl at any cost.

I am talking about a "band" simply known as thE bEans. Why is band in quotations? Well, there are no physical members. It is a "toon" band, much like Gorillaz or Alvin and the Chipmunks, created by my "Dude", Brandon Truster. Not his first foray into music, mind you, as he has been a part of several projects including Ugly Butterfly and Aisle of View.

The concept behind this group is hard to explain? Well, it is three alien-like beings that are technically one being that came to our world to change humanity through music. The idea is a satire of how bands tend to think that by playing music with a "message" will somehow change the world. History has shown this to not be true. That being said, I may have to write Rage Against The Machine an apology letter on behalf of us all for really dropping the ball? Nah, I am sure they are over it by now.

The "message" of thE bEans is too ridiculous to take seriously, which is part of the appeal. It is entirely composed of samples and the style of the music varies from song to song. Some have a Rave/EDM sort of feel, while others sound like a Led Zeppelin record slowly melting on the turntable. Some songs have multiple genres squished together like spaghetti, corn and mayonnaise. Some songs are presented as "covers" but only use the most memorable line of a song. Some songs aren't songs at all and others sound like deliberate pop music. All of the vocals sound as if they emanated from cosmic source of microwave radiation. It is weird enough to be unique, but memorable enough to take into consideration.

I will save reviewing the two albums, "ExpEriEncE" and "rElax your brain is mElting" here in the near future. For now, I am going to close by introducing the "band members".

This traditional green alien with the hoody and blunt is called, Def the Potsmoking Alien, he does the vocals, arrangements, and manipulates the band's sound with various computer effects.

This spunky, red Rasta alien is called, Def the Psychedelic Rasta Alien. He plays an instrument called a Bassitaruitar. Being the most amazing player of all time, he can play all three instruments at once. He is the "cool" one...

Finally, we have Def the Alcoholic Drummer Alien from Hell. He can get all drum sounds to come from a single drum head. Though, due to his raging alcoholism, he doesn't always keep a perfect beat, which adds to the "meltiness" of the sound.

Who wants to see this animated?

Much love to you all!
Lucy Sage Dreamtree