Oppposite Box - Silly and Infantile

If there's anything we learned from the band Downtown Brown this year, it's that music can get pretty damn weird when it's given the privilege to do so. Opposite Box come from the weirdest city in Tennessee, Chattanooga. Their music style can most easily be compared to Downtown Brown, if you were forced to compare it to anything. But other than that, it can most readily be compared to...themselves. Because those are the only two bands I can think of that pull off such an excellent form of modern funk-infused music.

Opposite Box definitely has the upper-hand when it comes to hoarding more personnel to play out their music desires. Their singer Ryan Long plays trombone and keys (hey, those are the three things I do in Atomic Potato), the aptly named Richard Long plays guitar, Dave Graham plays bass, Curtis Warner plays both alto and tenor saxophones (he's the blaxophonist), Nathan Griffin does percussion and the also aptly named Mark Fiddler plays the fiddle. This is the kind of lineup you'd expect out of a World/Inferno style band, but they're definitely not that. Or a ska band, but they're also definitely not that. Much like Downtown Brown, they sound like the ultimate jam band, and experiencing them will probably melt your skin off.

The opening track really does a lot to set the feel for the rest of the record. "Creepy" has some heavy guitar, a shit load of horn work, and some silly and infantile lyrics, which is pretty much the point of it. The song spends most of its time having fun and being primarily an instrumental number, and running off with your sister, and other things that this type of music tends to do. It had a circusy feel, but like one of those circuses that you're afraid you might get raped at. Or like the one from the animated movie We're Back where they turn dinosaurs mean by shrinking their brains. That type of deal.

The album carries on in a fairly similar fashion, and serves to never leave a dull moment. There's even funny little skits in between songs for you to dig on, just like on Eminem records! Ha. The best songs on the album, by close call, are "He Seems Like a Fungi", "The Pattern of Life", "I Want to Be Like You", and "Devil's Lettuce." Although, honestly, all of the songs have their own fucking reason to be somebody's favorite on the album. Pattern of Life has some ska-edge to it, System has some sort of mock-rap-metal thing going on, and it reminds me of "T2 Was Right" by Downtown Brown.

Sidenote: If Terminator 3 is to be believed, humanity is supposed to be destroyed by skynet today (April 21, 2011). So, good luck.

But yeah, you should check Opposite Box out if you haven't yet. They're one of the coolest things out of Tennessee. I mean, what else is there? Stuck Lucky and Protomen are about it. You can check them and their music out over on their facebook page. Via con dios...just kidding.

-Idle