They're Not Tom Waits, but They've Lived In a Car

Get a Taste (Redline)

Sprung Monkey

By David Lilly

The provocative cover art of a woman licking a lollipop could say one of two things about the enclosed CD: The disc is full of big, loud, dumb rock 'n' roll, or the marketing people have the reins and know how to move this merchandise (at least to males). Maybe it's both.

Sprung Monkey is not a new band, which means they're not an "overnight success." Their humble California beginnings stretch back about a decade. If you've been a struggling musician, lived in a motor vehicle, or have run most/all aspects of your career pretty much on a DIY basis, then you can relate to this band, even if you wouldn't wave the Sprung Monkey flag. None of those circumstances are new to this world, but neither is this band.

This music reminds me of my son's Smash Mouth cassette. I've heard only a few songs from that cassette, so that could be as trivial a similarity as two bands that have the same initials. On Get a Taste, Sprung Monkey rocks hard most of the time. They scorch the speakers through the first song, "What's That You Say," and then continue the scorching in a very radio-friendly way with the title song. Then comes the casually paced and radio-friendly, funky reggae/hip hop number, "Party Like a Rock Star," during which many youngsters are bound to get a charge out of the brief, but universal phrase, "kick a little ass" (if they're not too desensitized).

Are you in the mood for a bit of lite speed metal? "American Made" should satisfy you, or come close. Feel free to ignore the line, "I'm gonna kill you," since it is hopefully intended figuratively. "Unexpected" is a positive rocker about a prediction of some serendipitous occurrence in the near future of someone's life.

I could colorfully describe each song on this CD, but that isn't what you want, is it, faithful reader? No. You like to be enticed by just a taste of what's in store for you, without having the full meal just yet. At this point you can go buy this disc and hear it for yourself (I'm informing you here of their use of the F-word). You can also go to http://www.sprungmonkey.com/ to read and hear more about what we've discussed in class today.