Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Action Figure
Every Minute's the End (Peanut Butter Records)
By Aaron Ladage
Article Published Apr 6, 2006
When reviewing one-trick ponies, there's a dangerous factor that critics almost always forget to take into consideration — that one trick. Action Figure's six-song EP Every Minute's the End is a perfect example. On the surface, the Kansas City foursome's debut might seem like simplistic, power-chorded pop-punk. And that's probably because, well, it is. But the real danger in AF's new release shows up five minutes after you turn the music off. The album's catchy hooks and tight harmonies — especially on mind-melting tracks such as "Prosthetic Smiles" — will have you humming along to Action Figure songs throughout your day. Pretty soon, you'll resemble the walking dead, roaming the streets in your Fall Out Boy T-shirt, begging for Velcro wallets and some Bed Head for your newly disheveled hairdo. These infectious melodies will make you want to end it all, like the guy from the movie Pi. So beware — if you don't want to take a drill bit to the temple, avoid this album at all costs. Unless you're into that kind of thing, of course. - The Pitch
Emma Feel and Friends
Saturday, February 25, at Davey's Uptown.
By Jason Harper
Article Published Feb 23, 2006
If the Band That Saved the World was a classroom full of sugar-tripping kindergartners, then Emma Feel is a strip club full of dancing kindergarten teachers — it's just that pervy. Slightly weak in the area of chops but totally making up for it in swagger, stomp and badonk-a-donk-donk, this Kansas City retro-funk band has just minted its second album, All Things Dirty and Delicious, which is no act of false advertising. The album's stripped sound — just bass, guitar, drums, keys and slick white-boy vocals — makes a delightful offering for anyone who unashamedly proclaims that Midnite Vultures is Beck's finest album. Also releasing a CD at this show is Action Figure (pictured), which uses its kung-fu grip to rock hard-edged pop-punk with catchy choruses and raw-nerve guitar hooks. Bridging the two bands is Seaside Riot, a brand-new mod-rock outfit fronted by ex-Go Generation leader Devin Blair. Punk and soul bed down in Seaside's sound, calling to mind the Jam and Elvis Costello, whom Blair sounds uncannily like at times. The group recently contributed a track to Howitzer Records' compilation News of the World, Mk II and seems to have pulled up on the scene like a Vespa-driving mod kid on uppers. - The Pitch
excerpts taken from the Kansas City Star article...
"Hot Sounds in our City"
-Timothy Finn
Published April 20th, 2006
At the risk of sounding like a scratched record — or a CD that needs a good wipe — we feel obligated to reiterate something: The music scene in this town is hotter than asphalt in Kansas City in August.
Not too long ago, we could do one of these local CD roundups twice a year and stretch and struggle to find enough worthy CDs to write about. These days we could almost do one a month and still miss out on a few.
All of the CDs mentioned here were recorded by rock, pop or folk bands and performers who either live, work and play here or who have a connection to our area. You can sample most of this music by doing a little simple exploring on the Internet, whether it’s Googling a name and finding the right Web site or diving into the big communal/commercial ocean that is myspace.com.
Either way, sample, enjoy and then do all you can to support these worthy artists....
"Action Figure is Kansas City's Version of invigorating punk-pop."
Pop powered by ravenously catchy melodies and arrangements that honor the Ramones, Green Day and today’s standard/generic punk-pop bands. In other words, they might as well be as well-known as All-American Rejects. The ratio of invigoration to innovation is about 10:1, but that was the point anyway. — T.F. - Kansas City Star
Concert Review:
Action Figure
By Kyle M. Browning
Action Figure is a fairly new band on the local music scene here in Kansas City, but if you were to catch a show, you’d think of the group as no stranger to the scene. I was fortunate to catch Action Figure at Davey’s Uptown on the 26th of February.
It was a typical Saturday night at Davey’s with Pabst Blue Ribbon promoters handing out stickers and pins, the Camel guy dishing out free smokes after checking your I.D. and asking a few mindless questions, a handful of hipsters of course, and lots and lots of locals (Davey’s is known for attracting the middle-aged returning drunk). Anyway, Davey’s Uptown is the perfect palace for a brand new band to hold its first CD release party.
Action Figure is a four piece high energy "new punk" band from Liberty, MO that would probably remind you of a futuristic Green Day - minus the drugs. The album in promotion is called every minute’s the end. Each song has your typical punk rock drum beat, quick and tight with the bass thumping right along with it. The guitars complement each other with a lovely PRS distorted boop-boop-ba-de-doo-da solo over a chummy rock-n-roll Telecaster rhythm line. The vocals are belted out clean but raw, reminding you of a young Billie Joe Armstrong.
When watching a show I ask for one thing: ENERGY. There’s nothing like watching a band that looks like they’re on heroin, only they’re not, they just lack energy and don’t seem be having any fun. For me, if the band isn’t having fun, neither am I. At an Action Figure show this not a problem. The band rocks every song with high voltage frequency from start to finish, which not only captured my attention, but every other soul in the crowd that night as well.
With perfectly orchestrated songs like "Manic Depressive Baby" and "Halo," don’t be surprised if you programmed radio listeners hear an Action Figure song right after your favorite Fall Out Boy tune on 96.5 The Buzz. Not to say Action Figure is a shallow, radio-ready-label-constructed band, but simply for the fact they make good tunes that no matter what your taste, you can’t help but to bob your head along with every song. - Spectrum
Discography
"Every Minute's the End" - February 2006 (Peanut Butter Records)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
”(Action Figure) uses its kung-fu grip to rock hard-edged pop-punk with catchy choruses and raw-nerve guitar hooks” –The Pitch (Feb 23, 2006)
“Action Figure is Kansas City’s version of invigorating punk-pop…They might as well be as well-known as All-American Rejects” –The Kansas City Star (April 20th, 2006)
”The album's catchy hooks and tight harmonies — especially on mind-melting tracks such as "Prosthetic Smiles" — will have you humming along to Action Figure songs throughout your day.” -The Pitch (Apr 6, 2006)
Formed in 2005 by Jeff Pickman, Eric Jones, Marc Bollinger and Tripp Kirby, Action Figure came together out of the simple desire to write good songs. To this day, the band prides themselves on the one thing over all others—the songwriting. In doing so, they’ve skillfully married driving pop and high-energy indie rock to form an infectious sound that grabs you from start to finish.
In early 2005 Jeff, Eric and Marc were struggling to find the final member to complete the line-up—the singer. Jeff estimates that the band auditioned over 40 singers before finding Tripp. Tripp’s punk-infused vocal style and propensity for writing hook-driven pop songs matched perfectly with the bands’ vision. Thus, Action Figure was complete.
Action Figure began writing feverishly. The desire to get on stage fueled their urgency, but the desire to create a quality song took precedent. Their first show was scheduled. The packed house and the chanting of “more, one more, encore” left the band knowing the wait was worth it. Now a year later, they’ve formed a solid reputation.
The first single off the debut album Every Minute’s The End, “Addicted to Distraction” is based on a novel by contemporary author Chuck Pahlanuik. This upbeat, power-pop fast burner about a man lamenting his ability to kill with a single involuntary thought has been an instant hit. The song is currently receiving regular rotation on commercial radio stations across the Midwest.
In the Midwest’s ripening music scene, the band is being included in an impressive list of contemporaries by reviewers who proclaim that the punk-pop outfit “might as well be famous.” Action Figure would have to agree
Links
