CONCERT REVIEW: Fuzzbubble, Asbury Park, New Jersey
- Al Muzer
Featuring one of the best rock 'n' roll vocalists to stand and deliver since Lennon left most of his tonsils in Abbey Road's Studio Two laying down tracks for Anytime At All, New York's Fuzzbubble are one of the best selling bands you've heard, but never heard of, before.
With a track ("Bliss") featured on a Bad Boy/Footlocker compilation; the same tune on the Hell City Hell indie collection; another song ("Out There") prominently placed on the five million (and counting) sold Godzilla soundtrack disc; another track ("Nowhere To Run") on South Park's Chef Aid album that is actually Old Dirty Bastard, DMX and Ozzy Osbourne backed by Fuzzbubble; a guest appearance on Puff Daddy & The Family's "It's All About The Benjamins" rock remix; and camera time in Puffy's video for "Rock Benjamins" that won an MTV Viewer's Choice Award - Fuzzbubble are already about nine million records ahead of most bands with, technically, nothing more than a four-song advance and a slew of local gigs to their name.
A pop-perfect four-piece that'd be golden even without the golden touch of Sean 'Puffy' Combs and his Bad Boy Records, vocalist / guitarist Mark DiCarlo, guitarist/vocalist Jim Bacchi, drummer/vocalist Jason Camiolo and bassist Brett Rothfield kicked off their first official East Coast mini-tour under the Bad Boy umbrella with an engaging, arena-ready blast of Beatle-esque three-part harmonies and solid Gibson chime undercut by walloping drums and a powerful, strut-stepping guitar crunch that had Asbury Park's (N.J.) The Saint respectable, if not exactly packed, Tuesday night crowd hooked in no time.
Anchoring the neck-snapping, jet-engine blast (and one of those things so many other bands seem to leave out these days) were genuinely-memorable pop songs sportin' big-ass hooks made brilliant by playful, occasionally sly, nods in the direction of legends such as George Harrison ("Isn't It A Pity" on "Real World"), Paul McCartney ("Rock Show" and "Jet" during soundcheck), Golden Earring, the Who and Cheap Trick.
Proudly inspired by influences ranging from Kiss, Cheap Trick, the Raspberries, Beatles, Badfinger and Big Star to Jellyfish, Best Kissers In The World, Matthew Sweet, Husker Du and The Pursuit Of Happiness; Fuzzbubble pack enough sugar into each three-minute wonder to make you wanna sing (loudly) along - and just enough snarl into their buzzed-out crunch-pop to push ’em right over the top.
