DA WHOLE THING

Did you ever see that episode of The Muppet Show where Gonzo does speed with Crazy Harry, then sits in with the Electric Mayhem as they play Specials’ songs with Charles Mingus, Johnny Cash and John Zorn? Well, that’s exactly what listening to Da Whole Thing’s debut album, Tooth, is like. Tooth has all the fun, innocence and careless abandon of Jim Henson’s weirdest creations, combined with a whole salad bar of musical styles. There are sweet Jamaican rhythms, shuffling rockabilly numbers and full-on free jazz thrash moments. It’s the theme music to your weekday, if your weekday were an animated short directed by David Lynch. Da Whole Thing is a super-group of sorts, combining musicians from some of today’s finest modern ska bands with a few up-and-coming jazz players, and a couple other talented Joes. They sing about women, the world and working for The Man. The songs are catchy, sometimes funny, and always interesting. The first song-- also the last song-- is creepy yet endearing, like Billy Bob Thornton in Slingblade. Especially when they sing about watching the world commit suicide. Titled “The World’s About Me,” it appears as both an up-tempo country tune and as a sparse, strummed ballad. ”Jambalaya” is a true-as-true-can-be lesson in love, sung over a Doors-meets-Skatalites backdrop. And “Graveyard Dance” is one of the coolest songs I’ve heard in a while. It reminds me of that old black & white Disney cartoon where the skeletons are dancing, and it has the lyrics to match. It’s a toe-tapping shuffler of a tune, with group vocals, New Awlins-style horn lines, and a bizarro break where everyone sing-speaks in voices that could belong to an army of hunchbacked mad scientist assistants. And there are ten more tracks, all as entertaining and unusual as the ones I mentioned. But you should buy it and listen for yourself. Sit back, press play and let your mind wander on its own. You can’t find shinola this interesting on the radio. But if you could, oh what a colorful world we’d live in.
BUY TOOTH HERE.