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Below is what American Recordings has to say about stiffs, inc. as promo material. I don't know if it does the band justice or not. stiffs,inc. is a hard band to pigeonhole. If I had to give them a place it would be 'dark punk'. Their lyrics are very ominous and complex. From death to their generation, stiffs,inc. keep their lyrics serious. Their intrigue for all things Victorian shines through and they seem to be lost in the world of Europe 1800... What do Sherlock Holmes, '20s torch singer Ruth Ettinger, and punk rock '77 have in common? About as much as Jack The Ripper, Mary Pickford, and, uh, shrimp paste. That is to say, not a helluva lot. Unless of course, one happened to be a member of the band stiffs,inc. In defiance of evolution, stiffs,inc. combine all of those aforementioned influences to produce a weirdly wonderful offspring. Imagine if Johnny Rotten fronted the Buzzcocks on 40 cups of coffee. Or if Pete Shelley's gonads had descended just a tad more. If one were to cleverly combine this band's musical influences, one might arrive at a fitting moniker for them, something like, say, "Those Damned Sexxcocks!" From sticky wickets to tea-stained teef, stiffs,inc. take a decided pride in things British. Whatever they touch, the lads put a lot of English on it. They even employ a fair amount of inverted syntax -- about which you may seriously wonder -- because all of them hail from New York City, USA. (Ah, things get curiouser and curiouser...) Despite their background, however, on their American/Onion debut, Nix Naught Nothing, these Holme-boys make music that'd do The Ripper proud, numbers like "Die Mother Die," "Mary Pickford, Marry Me," and "Generation Crap." Of their standout selection, "Chelsea," one rock mag piped,"If there's been a better punk rock song in the last ten years, I haven't heard it!" stiffs,inc. are nothing less that a startling enigma. Before one can say "Quick, Watson, The Beatles!" this group of Yanks has posed a mighty clash of opposites, a confounding conundrum. It could be they're caught in two conflicting time warps, a predicament that only an H.G. Wells could fathom. Alas, H.G. is no longer with us, but stiffs,inc. are alive and well, and bravely up to the challenge.
want more info? here's another promo spiel. |
