50 cent Haircut is in it's 11th year as a group. Jay Souza writes the songs, plays acoustic, harmonica, and is the front man on vocals. Bryan Stone puts the ass in bass, and provides backing voice now and then. Bosko Sheff is on slide, lap steel, and the noodle. B.C. Coulter is the melodic six string guru, with guidance and supporting vocals. The reverend Mark Bennington is the beater on the meter.
The new release "Be Happy" was produced by Peter Curry (Los Straitjackets) at the notorious Pow Wow Fun Room in Culver City, CA and was mastered by Jim Demain (Robert Plant/Alison Krauss) at Yes Master, Nashville. TN.
Like the Kinks reborn as honky-tonk hillbillies or an alt-country band that has read Oscar Wilde, the LA-based fivesome combines the best of British barbs with all that’s good and great in Americana. Think drawling vocals, jerky American-gothic guitars, soaring choruses, and you’re on the right track. In other words...pretty damn good. Dave Mcgonigle - Delusions of Adequacy
about "Be Happy"
The hallmark of 50 Cent Haircut’s decade long career has always been the honesty and sincerity of their songs, and on “Carried Away,” the penultimate track of their latest album “Be Happy,” frontman Jay Souza sings the most self aware line of his entire career: “Everybody’s lookin’ for the thing they were meant to do/ I’ll sit and sing a lonesome song.” This record is the one they have been destined to make. It’s a quiet and reserved meditation on discontentment, heartbreak and death written with wit and clarity which takes incomprehensible and conflicting emotions and gives them voice. There is nothing light or simple about these songs. There are no anthems or power ballads, nothing that resembles the mindless, disposable pop so prevalent on modern airwaves. The closest it comes to a love song is the opening track about a fall down drunk who is “takin’ a shine to the widow next door.” The narrator of the title track confesses to the object of his affection that he loves her “for lack of a better word,” a romantic proclamation that meets with less then successful results. Even the album’s title comes off as ironic, a generic bumper sticker affirmation that presides over a pensive and thoughtful collection of lyrics. Yet under all the wry smiles and wordplay there flows a current of loss and sadness. What emerges is a record that is a reflection on the past and a gaze into an uncertain future. The second track, “Dressed For The Drought” deftly examines the disillusionment of The Bush Years not with canned rage and hysteria but quiet frustration. A similar sentiment is echoed in a line from Pachyderm: “You are waving at catastrophe/ Well the same goes for me/ We are eager to be gun-shy.” “Coat of Disappointment” grieves over a lost love, while “Fast Life, Slow Death” mourns the rest of the path. The entire look inward finally coalesces into “Carried Away,” wherein Souza spells out his destiny over Bosco Sheff’s haunting steel guitar. Then comes the closer, “New Fight Song,” the defiant counterpoint to the proceeding songs, a guitar driven rocker with a chorus that urges the listener to fall in love and “write the words to a new fight song.” It’s a brave and rewarding choice, one that says a little soul-searching is essential but to never give up the battle. Underlining all of this is some of the best music the band has ever played. Drummer Mark Bennington and bassist Bryan Stone play with dazzling subtlety, crafting a pocket that never seems flashy or intrusive but rather breezes casually into each song like a soft wind. BC Coulter’s jangling guitar provides a magnificent backdrop to Bosco Sheff’s slides and steels, giving Sheff the freedom to play some of his most reserved yet rewarding music to date. Producer Peter Curry adds hints of cello and accordion throughout the record, creating a deep and beautiful landscape of music where sounds drift in and out like thoughts in a ponderous mind. 50 Cent Haircut has always had a way with writing songs that felt genuine and human. At a time when contemporary music is crafted to be used for a jingle or a movie soundtrack, “Be Happy” plays like an old pal sitting at the next bar stool, each song a knowing and reassuring pat on the shoulder.
Frontman Jay Souza and friends are certified alchemists with a gift for spinning instantly relatable yarns that can magically transform whatever venue they happen to be playing into a hootin'-and-hollerin' honky-tonk. Their stonewashed blend of rockabilly, southern gothic, and roots rock (with a not so secret splash of punk inflected Brit-pop) shines sweetly on the recent Shadow of the Noose. -
Liam Gowing
(The Onion AV/Los Angeles)
Howdy, I had never herd of the flamin groovies. there good. I like how they sing. I'm a fan of camper van beethovan and cracker so it made sens right away. thanks
Guys!!!! I love the new tunes! Checked em all out, preparing for download! You guys have to make it out to Austin sometime. It's been too long! See you soon.
New pics, new videos and new LIVE tunes going up today! Let me know what you think! Sending some ATX (that's Austin Texas) love out to everyone. Ruby Jane
Hi Boys, We're playing the Echo this Sunday at 530. Hope to cu there. And we'll definitely see you next week at Cinema Sat. the 11th. We're on before you! --Kent
WE ARE A BAND CALLED THE LIE. WE WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO COME OUT AND MEET US AT THE MBAR IN HOLLYWOOD , JUNE 5TH. STAY AFTER AND PARTY WITH US. PLEASE COME UP AND SAY HI. THANK YOU
