Rachel Arieff (vocals, piano, lyrics)
The Smileytown Boys: Eric Rudnick (drums) & Garner Knutsen (bass)
With special assistance from Michael Todd on washboard.
Influences
Adolescent moms, drunk dads, drunker neighbors, hideous plastic surgery, that scummy boyfriend from 10 years ago that you still can't believe you were too spineless to leave and who ended up dumping you, smoking grandmas, kittens, pornography, marital malaise, celebrity, guns/general aggression, the war between the sexes, the relentless assault on innocence...
...and Bob Newhart, God bless the beautiful man.
Sounds Like
Close your eyes, and imagine a naked, trash-talking Petula Clark singing on Sesame Street or The Muppet Show. Yeah, that's kinda what it sounds like.
Hi, I'm Rachel Arieff and I'm a comedian who also makes music. On this page you can enjoy tunes, music videos, and pics from my work as a solo artist as well as in collaboration with The Smileytown Boys and my cat, Mr. Tacos.
Rachel Arieff and The Smileytown Boys NO LONGER EXISTS, so you don't have to worry about getting spam from us. One of the purposes of this page is to fondly remember the band, and to turn you on to our one and only CD, "How To Be Happy All the Time", released in 2002.
Remember the music from The Muppet Show? Well, our CD is like that, but sung by a snotty naked woman.
If you enjoy a Sesame Street sound with Dead Milkmen lyrics, you'll like our music.
If you're offended by sex, swearing, or snotty social commentary, our tunes will make you upchuck your Slimfast all over your Sassoons.
"How To Be Happy All the Time" makes a great gift for people who like simple pop music and sharp satire. It also makes a great gift for people who don't have any sense of humor but you'd like to annoy.
Around the same period that we recorded the CD, while I was recently divorced and living in an illegally converted office above two dodgy medical clinics on Hollywood Boulevard and drinking myself to sleep nightly, my cat Mr. Tacos suddenly began composing music.
Obviously influenced by Bartok and black holes, he would transmit his work to my consciousness through mental telepathy and I would play it on the piano for intellectual, elitist audiences. We never got the scratch together to record a proper CD, so Mr. Tacos remains a truly underground sensation. However, you can see a video of one of his works here.
Brief Bio of Rachel Arieff & The Smileytown Boys
It all started in Hollywood when my old New York buddy, Eric Rudnick, offered to accompany me on drums when I played my songs at comedy gigs. Then Eric introduced me to prolific guitar genius Garner Knutson of The Piper Downs and The Trainwrecks. Once Eric and I succeeded in prying the multitudes of screaming, hysterical girls off Garner, we all got together and started playing the songs from my one-woman show, "How To Be Happy All the Time". Egged on by our fans, we went into the studio and recorded these songs. Guest musicians are hairless hillbilly manchild Michael Todd on washboard and accordion virtuoso "Bad Milk Joe" from Missy Gibson's band, Breech. Please check out these bands because they still exist and they're great!
In 2004 I moved to Barcelona, got busy with learning how to do comedy in a new language and put the music-making on the back burner. I currently have two shows in Spain, Anti-Karaoke and Cómo ser feliz todo el tiempo.
Eric Rudnick and Garner Knutson still live in L.A., where Eric works as a writer and Garner enjoys continued success with both of his bands.
Though The Smileytown Boys and I went our separate ways, "How to Be Happy All the Time" continues to attract fans throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia. As a testament to this CD's underground success, I occasionally get approached by shifty older men with poor hygeine who want to know if I "like to party".
Strange you ask. My wife, Angelika Steiner, did, from a photo she had taken. We were at the Parque del Retiro, Madrid, during the Book Fair of... Many years ago. Maybe twenty. It was a beautiful hat, the first I had found that fitted my big head. It does not exist any more.
Oh My God! It's Rachel A! Party on! ¡Eres multimedia, tía, so prolific! Soy la mitad de los Lemmys, del Antikaraoke madrileño. El próximo miércoles 27 nos vemos y nos oimos en El Sol, en el Primer Aniversario de Madrid ¿Vas a estrenar alguna canción de estas?
holaaa!!q tal?!! me encantan tus canciones, pero que pena que mi nivel de inglés sea tan nefasto para entender esas letras que seguro que son muy cachondas,jaja! este lunes de cabeza al AK!
