SHOWCASE
Club: Blender Bar at the Ritz
Address: 320 E. Sixth
Date: Wednesday, March 15
Showtime: 8:00 p.m.

Fun    The Tracks

Skipping school, shooting berries with a blowpipe through bathroom windows, playing with illegal fireworks, burning Christmas trees, driving drunk, shoplifting, throwing stones…, these are all forms of petty crimes - sometimes very funny, actually - but at a certain point you grow out of it. Unintentionally, these thoughts occur to you, when you hear the key line out of Fun, the second album by Blues Brother Castro: 'Just because it's fun, it doesn't mean you have to do it. Come on girl, we are getting older.' Whereas their first CD Moneymakerme (2004) almost exclusively dealt with life seen through the rather alcoholically tainted specs by boisterous Leon Caren, now is the time for a little 'contemplation' and - let's say - 'distance.'

To be filed under 'alternative rock' the way the indication of the genre was originally meant to be that is, as these days loads of mainstream bands are incorrectly labelled as alt.rock. Blues Brother Castro is as indie as indie could ever be. If rock was ever intended to be the anti culture, then this lot comes closest. Fun sounds like the definition of recalcitrance. But even in this section there are various grades. Fun is different, and not only lyrically. The music itself is also strikingly less one-dimensional than before. Bands grow up as well, you know. The intensity that the word blues in the band name refers to, only comparable to the legendary Gun Club and Jon Spencer has remained fully intact. Don't worry please. 'Sonically speaking, we were like a somewhat musty grey line on our previous album,' Caren analyses. 'On our new CD we've tried to give the songs a little more air.' Well, mission accomplished. The dynamics have improved considerably. Just listen to Half The Fun.

'The songs have become more staccato,' he continues. You could say, that the line has become a square. Describing the artistic process, he says, 'Fun is more of a band album than its predecessor. We've done more together,' Whereas in the past he and guitarist Tjeerd Meindersma wrote the songs and then the band would join in, now drummer Hajo De Reijger and bassist Mila Van De Wall have been involved in the course of action in a much earlier phase. Bass and drums have audibly got a much bigger influence on the total sound, which has become squarer rhythmically. Catchy album opener Give Me (Something To Dance To), enhanced with a jangling organ, and the song The Tracks for instance show Blues Brother Castro from this different, new side. And it's an interesting new direction.

The fun on Fun is of a totally different kind than the Fun, Fun, Fun of The Beach Boys. Trying to describe Fun's topics, he adds, 'All songs are deeply rooted in modern life, finished off with a solid dose of sheer cynicism. Ooh, I love it! It's more than just alcohol and relationships. Fun is definitely multi-layered.' Partly that's due to life on the road, which has intensified too. In the wake of its appearance at New York's CMJ Music Marathon 2005, Blues Brother Castro toured the US for a month last year. Of course this has stirred up some new inspiration, which you can hear on the CD. In May the band will embark on a lengthy domestic tour with their mates Alamo Race Track. An international twin tour is planned as well. The good thing about this package is that the one band, BBC, is doing well in Germany, while the other one, ART, in France. Currently a world tour is being prepared that should hit various metropolises. Amsterdam, London, Paris, Berlin and New York. It sounds like the label on a Dior perfume if not the locations of a big attorney's office. As long as it stays fun…

US TOUR UPDATE
March 08, Fat Baby, New York, NY
March 09, The Chestnut Room, Philadelphia, PA
March 10, The Barn, Cold Spring, NY
March 11, The Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ
March 15, Blender Bar at the Ritz, SXSW, Austin, TX
March 16, Red 7, unofficial SXSW show, Austin, TX
March 21, The Cavern, Dallas, TX
March 22, The Buccaneer, Memphis, TN

BAND INFO
contact: Ard Boer
phone: +31 6 4827 6532
e-mail: ard@rara-records.com
website: www.bluesbrothercastro.nl + www.myspace.com/bluesbrothercastro

US contact: In Good Faith Entertainment
phone: +1 845 231 2432
e-mail: info@igfentertainment.com
Website: www.igfentertainment.com