Born Again Floozies
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Born Again Floozies

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"Nashville News Concert Review"

From Nashville TN and http://nashvillesnews.net/node/188257

These Born Again Floozies are some kind of crazy freak show; only they’re a very musically skilled freak show, like Spike Jones or the Asylum Street Spankers. In theory, I would almost compare them to the Spankers, except that they don't use any of the same instruments.

The Floozies’ basic sound is one electric guitar and a tuba player plus a tap dancer, natch. I note that Miss Amy Gilmore has her own little maybe 4x4 metal tap stage, which is specifically miked. She ended up being a surprisingly musical and effective percussionist, right along with a few assorted minor rhythmic instruments.

She also had a fairly simple but highly effective deadpan stage presence; not particularly hamming it up, but cheerful and poker faced. There's a second tap dancer, name of Libby Milliken, only she just gave birth to a little floozie within the last few days so they had to get by without her.

Anyway, Joe Welch in the center of this mess plays some fairly fancy guitar that's a little tough to describe, but unique and highly expressive. Ben Volkits blows some mean tuba that makes me not miss a bass player one bit. They can credibly cover Sly Stone.

There's a pretty high humor quotient to the act, as you might imagine. Just on the basis of the title, you have to appreciate the tale of the "Small Penis Compensation Vehicle." I was more taken, though, by the curious ruminations about a cemetery with a marquee sign -- and what kind of person would have such a job as writing the quotes. Best I can tell, the title was "If You Were Dead, You'd Be Home Now."

They do a mean version of "Highway to Hell," though their studio recording is apparently being dicked around a bit by some AC/DC lawyer types. As it happens, it was only halfway through their set that the Spankers showed up at the back door. Rough weather, but we'll get back to that.

Anyway, Wammo himself comes walking in the back door during this performance and has to stop for a moment to listen appreciatively to this unique and surprisingly effective arrangement.

I end up writing about the humor stuff because it's words and easy to communicate. But the better parts of the show were instrumental pieces. You just have to sit and listen to Joe and Ben work out that jam. This has to be about the best opening act I ever saw, other than maybe absolutely Brian Wilson opening for Paul Simon. I need more Floozies in my life. - Nashville News


"Concert Review: Young Blood Brass Band with Born Again Floozies"

I went to a great show May 8 [w/ John, Brian Hunt (aka Country Musik), Hundo, and Denise] at Radio Radio. The opening band, the Born Again Floozies, consisted of a guitar player, a tuba player, a percusionist (really just blocks and a bass drum) and a tap dancer, who sometimes played cymbals. Quite the eclectic collection--however, they were both talented musicians and entertaining performers. Songs about a lost mullet (which was referred to in one point of the song as the 'Missouri Compromise'), and a catchy little number entitled, "Small Penis Compensation Vehicle', were crowd favorites. Not to mention, the cover of AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' like you've never heard before. Just a gimmick you say? I don't think so...this group has recorded with legend Steve Albini...twice.

- Country Musik


"Americana UK CD Review"

Noteworthy, addictive and not ephemeral

Put together two tap dancers, a tuba player, a guitarist and a bunch of surreal song titles with Steve Albini and you get an unusually satisfying record. Put aside the humour, and start with the instrumental ‘Heathen Gypsy Trouncer’ - the tuba wanders around a minor scale, guitar sounds like the titular wanderer, drums stomp their feet a slow motion whirl of colour and emotion, bass drum sounds like a primitive imperative. ‘I Used to Play the Euphonium’ whistles, amphetamine drum roll, electric guitar, insistent ticking of the taps, the spirit of the Minutemen awakened by the guitar playing - even D Boon didn’t bring in the tuba. Imagine that they had and a choir clapping, whooping, indeed this is not a test. Marvellous stuff.


Date review added: Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Reviewer: David Cowling - David Cowling


"Born Again Floozies"

There's a fine line between Avant Guarde and just plain wacky. The Born Again Floozies swerve back and forth across that line like a drunk driver on his way home from 5 cent Beer Night.

But you'd expect that from a band that features Tuba for a bass track. Or Libby Milliken's tap shoes as the band's drum section.

It would be easy to dismiss them as a mere novelty act if not for the superior vocals and songwriting of their frontman Joe. He's got a genuinely good voice that ties it all together.

Wayne Bertsch, NUVO Newsweekly - NUVO Newsweekly


"ARTIST OF THE WEEK: The Born Again Floozies"

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: The Born Again Floozies
Story by Ryan Williams - Photos by Submitted Photos -

Listen: http://tinyurl.com/qkz68

IndianapolisMusic.net presents the Artist of the Week. Each week our editorial staff will select one local artist who has made a place in the spotlight for themselves by giving Indy's music lovers something they should be hearing. Along with the weekly IMN feature, the Artist of the Week will also be featured in the pages of NUVO Newsweekly.

Most bands have a hard time finding a replacement member when a guitarist or drummer leaves the band. Imagine trying to find a fill-in tap dancer when your current one is taking a break due to pregnancy and a broken ankle. It was an unusual situation for the Born Again Floozies, but the aforementioned dancer/percussionist Libby Milliken, guitarist/vocalist Joe Welch, and tuba player Ben Vokits are an unusual band to begin with. Not only have they found a new member in dancer Amy Gilmore, though, but the Floozies are now ready to make some big noise with their oddly endearing songs.

Welch’s musical career has been a rich one, including a stint with the original Johnny Socko lineup that included shows with Dave Matthews Band, Fishbone, Murphy’s Law, Madball, The Skatellites, and many more. The Floozies’ penchant for theatrical elements comes naturally to Welch as well. His music has been featured in theatrical productions performed from New York to Seattle and in Italy and the UK. It was a happy accident, though, that brought the Floozies together. Welch says “Libby got tap shoes out of the attic and started tapping along to me playing guitar. I think I was playing Bowie's ‘Man Who Sold The World.’ I literally walked into Ben when I had recently decided we needed a tuba after listening to some kick-ass tejano music.” Vokits was a regular performer in Indianapolis, but the Floozies are the first music ensemble either Milliken or Gilmore, both dancers with years of training and experience, had ever worked with. Their percussive steps provide the rhythm for Vokits’s ranging tuba lines and Welch’s intricate strumming and tapping.

When asked to describe their music, Welch says “We're songmongers! Slingin' songs like so many dead fish.” Said mongering has taken their Vaudevillian stage shows and music from busking across Ireland in a gypsy horse-drawn cart to Steve Albini’s studio in Chicago, where the Floozies have been recording in preparation for their “Novelties, Addenda and Ephemera” EP (to be released in September) and their “7 Deadly Sinners” full-length recording (due in January). The latter recording is slated to be mastered at Abbey Road by Nick Webb. Welch says “While neither of these are achievements, really, their positive reaction to the music was rewarding. Steve Albini has a reputation of being ruthlessly critical, and very vocal about it. He really dug what we were doing, and that's very encouraging.” For his part, Albini is quoted in the Floozies’ bio as calling them “a rock band with extras, but that’s comically understated--kind of like saying Franz Liszt only waltzed.”

Because of Milliken’s impending delivery date, Welch says the records are the focus right now. “We're having a baby! We're postponing any touring plans, and don't plan on touring heavily.” A few local dates are sprinkled around here and there, though, and the Born Again Floozies are a band that must be experienced live. Your next chance to do so is June 22nd at Radio Radio with the Asylum Street Spankers.

-- Ryan Williams --

Related Link: http://bornagainfloozies.com - Indianapolismusic.net and NUVO Newsweekly


"ALL PRESS"

Please contact Dylan at info@triplerrecords.com for a pdf of a complete press.

*PASTE Magazine recently chose the Born Again Floozies' "I Used To Play the Euphonium" to be on their celebrated CD Sampler. They gave the Floozies pole position for the Dec 2006/ Jan 2007 sampler! The Floozies also played PASTE's Rock and Reel festival 2006. PASTE has featured their music on several podcasts in their "Culture Club" section.

CD Review
PASTE Magazine
Novelties, Addenda and Ephemera
“Recorded and mixed by Steve Albini, the Floozies deliver 5 songs of hard-to-ignore fun. Novelties in the best possible way.”





"Marvelous stuff." - David Cowling, Americana UK

The Born Again Floozies "Novelties, Addenda and Ephemera" (Triple R Records 2006)

Noteworthy, addictive and not ephemeral

Put together two tap dancers, a tuba player, a guitarist and a bunch
of surreal song titles with Steve Albini and you get an unusually
satisfying record. Put aside the humour, and start with the
instrumental 'Heathen Gypsy Trouncer' - the tuba wanders around a
minor scale, guitar sounds like the titular wanderer, drums stomp
their feet a slow motion whirl of colour and emotion, bass drum
sounds like a primitive imperative. 'I Used to Play the Euphonium'
whistles, amphetamine drum roll, electric guitar, insistent ticking
of the taps, the spirit of the Minutemen awakened by the guitar
playing - even D Boon didn't bring in the tuba. Imagine that they had
and a choir clapping, whooping, indeed this is not a test. Marvellous
stuff.

Date review added: Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Reviewer: David Cowling
Reviewers Rating: 7 out of 10
www.Americana-uk.com


Born Again Floozies on BBC:

ARTIST - TRACK

The Born Again Floozies - Floozy Revival (21:21)




The Born Again Floozies appeared in Issue #74 (Cat Power) and on the MAGNET Sampler for December/January 2006

Born Again Floozies Radio Campaign

Terrestrial Airplay On:
KKUP/SF
KPFT/Houston- two weeks!
KPNT/St Louis- many weeks!
KRQR/Chico- two weeks!
Waitt Radio/Syndicated- many weeks!
WAVF/Charleston- two different hosts’ shows!
WFNX/Boston
WKZE/Red Hook, NY
WNTI 91.9 FM Death Valley, NJ http://deathvalleyradio.org/tracklists/track_list_448.html wnti.org

Web Airplay On:
Mondo Blu (Barcelona, Spain)
City of Glass
Edge Radio
Intensely Modern
Radio Crystal Blue
KQCX (Phoenix)
Never Ending Wonder
Luver
Net Radio 100
WOOZ Radio
Radio Free David
Loud City Radio
AllInternetRadio.com
Last.fm
Most Played Track: “I Used to Play the Euphonium”





Radio Free David (Review)
The Born Again Floozies

Of course, Liz (Notorious Radio) also has a seriously playful side, too, as you're going to find out with The Born Again Floozies. We really don't have a clue how to describe these guys, to be honest. Where else are you going to find tap dancers (yes, we said "tap dancers"), tuba (yes, we said "tuba"), guitars (whew!) and vocals all rolled into one sound? If we were putting together a band, this is not a combination we would try first. Luckily for us, The Born Again Floozies did... and the results are well... gosh darn wild. The sound, as you can well imagine, is incredibly unique and that means that we of course just had to have them in our rotation! And you know what? We couldn't be more tickled! Radio Free David is all about diversity and bringing you interesting and cool music... these guys just totally tickle our fancy and we just smiled and smiled and then smiled when we heard 'em. We think you will too!

We're running Floozy Revival/Live It Up Now! (see if you can figure out who might have said the words, and if there is any hypocrisy) and Gimme Back My Mullet from the EP Novelties, Addenda and Ephemera. This CD sure sounds like nothing you've ever heard before, but it is a fun compelling sound, too. Wow!

PASTE Song of the Day: Born Again Floozies (October 23, 2006)
Concert Review: Asylum Street Spankers with Born Again Floozies
Nashville News
From Nashville, TN and http://nashvillesnews.net/node/188257
These Born Again Floozies are some kind of crazy freak show; only they’re a very musically skilled freak show.

The Floozies’ basic sound is one electric guitar and a tuba player plus a tap dancer, natch. I note that Miss Amy Gilmore has her own little maybe 4x4 metal tap stage, which is specifically mic’ed. She ended up being a surprisingly musical and effective percussionist, right along with a few assorted minor rhythmic instruments.

Joey Welch in the center of this mess plays some fairly fancy guitar that's a little tough to describe, but unique and highly expressive. Ben Volkits blows some mean tuba that makes me not miss a bass player one bit. They can credibly cover Sly Stone.

There's a pretty high humor quotient to the act, as you might imagine. Just on the basis of the title, you have to appreciate the tale of the "Small Penis Compensation Vehicle." I was more - BBC, PASTE, MAGNET, PBS et al


"PASTE Magazine Review"

CD Review
PASTE Magazine
Novelties, Addenda and Ephemera
“Recorded and mixed by Steve Albini, the Floozies deliver 5 songs of hard-to-ignore fun. Novelties in the best possible way.”
- PASTE


"PASTE Magazine CD Sampler"

*PASTE Magazine recently chose the Born Again Floozies' "I Used To Play the Euphonium" to be on their celebrated CD Sampler. They gave the Floozies pole position for the Dec 2006 sampler! The Floozies also played PASTE's Rock and Reel festival 2006. PASTE has featured their music on several podcasts in their "Culture Club" section. - PASTE Magazine


"Indianapolis Star/ INtake"

#8 in the Top Ten Shows of the week after WILCO and before the NINTENDO Fusion Tour with Reliant K. - Gannet


"ALBINI RECORDS/MIXES FLOOZIES"

Music
Beyond novelty
by Scott Hall | Sep 27th, 2006

The Born Again Floozies are, from left, Ben Vokits, Joey Welch, Libby Milliken and Amy Gilmore. Not pictured is Nancy Moore.

Born Again Floozies release new EP

The epiphany came to Joey Welch one day at home, while he was indulging his favorite pastime of mistreating a guitar to hear what might come out. His wife, Libby Milliken, came down from the attic, shoes clicking on wooden steps. Then, having studied dance in younger days, she launched into some tap moves.

Welch called her into the room with the tape recorder, and they spent the next couple hours laying down their first session as the Born Again Floozies, perhaps one of the first bands of the rock era to use tap dancing as the primary percussion instrument, not to mention a unique visual hook.

“To me,” Welch says, “there’s always been something sexy about it, in a strange way.”

Wacky, sure, but wait: Noting an auditory gap that typically would be occupied by a bass fiddle or guitar, the Indianapolis couple soon enlisted Ben Vokits, who plays the tuba with enough facility to maintain a decent funk groove when necessary. As they prepared for the birth of son Faolain, now three months old, they brought aboard another tap dancer and percussionist, Amy Gilmore. The latest addition is Nancy Moore on backing vocals and found-object percussion.

The conglomeration is entertaining enough on a recording, but what makes it so striking in a live context is the deadpan delivery, as the costumed players refuse to acknowledge their own surreality. That, combined with the freshness and social commentary of Welch’s songs, helps elevate the act beyond “novelty” status.

Welch, who built his regional rep throughout the ’90s as a founding member of Johnny Socko and later with his own Aurelians, has always believed in the power of humor to engage audiences, but he knows all too well how bands with amusing material can be marginalized. The Floozies, he says, have more to offer than obvious chuckles.

“You could dismiss it as silliness, but there’s satire in there,” he says.

This coming week brings three opportunities to see the Born Again Floozies in person and pick up their brand new debut EP Novelties, Addenda and Ephemera (available at Luna Music, Indy CD & Vinyl, Amazon and iTunes), which already has won surprising national attention for an independent release. The disk contains five songs out of 17 that resulted from five days of recording with esteemed producer-engineer Steve Albini (Pixies, PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Jon Spencer) in his Chicago studio. The remaining dozen are marked for a full-length release next year.

Given that the band began as a private joke, Welch is surprised at how the part-time venture has caught on with fans and venue operators. In a vast ocean of bass-drums-guitar rock bands, a simple verbal description of the Born Again Floozies lineup is often sufficient to cut through the clutter.

“Most people, when they hear that, it’s like, ‘How can this possibly work?’” he says. “All we have to say is what it is and it captures their attention. In two and a half years, I’ve never had to call anyone for a gig; people keep calling us. But at that point, we have to be good, or it’s, ‘Next!’”

One such reaction came from Paste magazine, a relatively new but respected music and arts publication based in Atlanta. Once the band and its label, the New Jersey-based independent Triple R Records, had prepared their oddly packaged press kits, they sent the very first one to Paste.

“The day they got it, they called us back,” Welch says.

The national magazine gave the EP a favorable review in its October issue and recently flew the band to Atlanta to play its Paste Rock ’n’ Reel Festival. One Floozies cut, “I Used to Play the Euphonium,” is scheduled to kick off the sampler CD enclosed with the December/January issue, and other recordings are available as podcasts on the magazine’s Web site.
Having Albini’s name on the project surely didn’t hurt. Recording with him was a thrill for the band and a satisfying experience all around.

“I think I’ve recorded 10 CDs, and I’ve worked with some really good engineers, but I don’t think anybody works as hard as he does,” Welch says. “Albini’s philosophy is the same as mine: I want the exact sound that’s happening in the room to go to tape. I don’t want effects. I don’t want any of that crap.”

To that end, the musicians played together live as much as possible. To reinforce the rhythm section, they enlisted the much-in-demand local drummer Adam White, who played a modified kit cobbled together from drums and random objects. Other guests from the Indy indie scene included Mike Wiltrout, Joe Cheesman and Kipp Normand. Currently the bandmates are getting about as much attention as they can handle.

“Originally, we didn’t really even intend to play out,” Welch says. “It’s been charmed since the beginning.”

Scott Hall writes about - NUVO NEWSWEEKLY


Discography

1. Novelties, Addenda and Ephemera (5-song ep) out September 2006
2. 7 Deadly Sinners (full-length) recorded and mixed by Steve Albini, Mastered by Nick Webb at Abbey Road Studios, London out Jan 2007

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

A voluptuously surreal performance: the rhythm section is two tap dancers and a tuba, the singer plays guitar the way most people play the piano. Steve Albini described them as "...a rock band with extras, but thats comically understated--kind of like saying Franz Liszt only waltzed." But Triple R Records calls them "Fellini-esque songmongers". We're SONGMONGERS! Slingin' songs like so many dead fish... || Discography 1. Novelties, Addenda and Ephemera (5-song ep) recorded and mixed by Steve Albini out June 2006 2. 7 Deadly Sinners (full-length) recorded and mixed by Steve Albini, Mastered by Nick Webb at Abbey Road Studios, London out Jan 2007||