Deluxe Leisure King

DLK guitarist gets First Act nod

Seth Cherniak, guitarist and singer for area rock band Deluxe Leisure King, has picked up an endorsement deal with the First Act instrument company -- but please hold the jokes about toy-quality Wal-Mart instruments.

"That's kind of where they started," acknowledged Cherniak. "The first I heard of them was when I bought a drum kit for my kid a couple of years back."

But as First Act's product line has moved up-market, it has developed the appropriate marketing tools: Celebrity endorsements (Slash, among others), signature models (notably Paul Westerberg) and the Emerging Artists Program that Cherniak learned about at www.sonicbids.com.

Successful applicants get the right to purchase First Act gear at a deep discount. Cherniak's choice: a "Delia" semi-hollowbody six-string.

"It's kinda neat," he said of the program. For more information or to apply, visit http://firstact.com/Artists/EmergingArtists.aspx.

Cherniak said Deluxe Leisure King is working on its third album, the follow-up to last year's "Debbie Does Nothing." For regular updates, visit
www.deluxeleisureking.com .
- Mobile Press-Register

Kings over the water

Deluxe Leisure King is taking their sounds across the pond and beyond. Their latest single "Wanna Girl (Like That)" is out on vinyl in Australia. This song is a part of a compilation called "International Pop Controversy" put out Australian indie label Smashed Records.

Deluxe Leisure King is planning on releasing this single stateside sometime in October as a digital song available on iTunes. Check out Deluxe Leisure King at venues across Mobile and Baldwin County.

-Stephen Centani - Lagniappe

The Suburban Weirdeness of Deluxe Leisure King

Mobile band's third album presents an off-kilter view of life


It's telling that the two most intense exchanges during an interview with Deluxe Leisure King involve not music but (a) the merits of the various actresses who have played Catwoman, and (b) what it might have been like if Jack Nicholson had ever been cast as Jesus.
The two themes have nothing to do with the trio's recently-released third album, "Miss Steak." Or, at least there's no direct relationship.



They do lend some insight into the band's point of view, however. Either topic would serve well as the kernel of a DLK song. Lyrically, they tend to sound like a group of guys who found themselves living in a cultural wasteland, shrugged and decided to go native.

They pretty much spell it out on the album's opening track, "Welcome to the Neighborhood:"

"The man that lives behind me/ feels so complete/ he runs a dirty little business/ from the corner of the street/ The repairman in the phone truck/ is working for the feds/ he knows what everybody's doing/ in everybody's beds."


Deluxe Leisure King's new album, "Miss Steak."From there it's on to a heavily ironic catalog of suburban weirdness and dysfuntional characters.
There's an ode to actor Aldo Ray and a sunny paean to cult leader Jim Jones; a character sketch of Donya Petrova, who in the midst of Glasnost and Perestroika just wants to become a human cannonball; and "Superwaitress," a slow-paced number whose dreamy, soothing tone belies a vicious assessment of a woman vastly overqualified, at least in her own mind, for the job:

"And all those great big words/ make you sound eloquent/ but you still pay the cable bill/ before you pay the rent// Acting so smart makes you look so dumb/ in the final scheme/ you can talk about Nietzsche/ while you take these salads to table 14."

Vocalist/guitarist/principal songwriter Seth Cherniak said the song, contrary to what one might expect, didn't originate with a specific bad dining experience.

"It's all fly-on-the-wall conversation that my wife brought home from the gym," he said. There, he said, she'd been amused by the complaints and the attitudes of a couple of women who'd paused to take a cigarette break in the middle of their workout.

Musically, Deluxe Leisure King sticks to what Cherniak refers to as jangle-pop. It's a sound very close to late-80's college radio: A heavy dose of R.E.M., some Tom Petty, a dash of Byrds, with rough-and-ready directness valued over studio polish.

It's an approach that has held since 2004 when the band released its debut, "15 Minutes of Shame." The follow-up, "Debbie Does Nothing," came in 2006.

As before, Bobby Frost handles the drums and a gentleman who prefers to be known as Self Abuse plays bass. Everybody sings. This time around, Self Abuse contributed several songs.

Although he's not the sole songwriter, Cherniak said he's particularly pleased by the cohesiveness of this album. More or less by accident, the trio found a theme.

"Most of the songs do deal with some kind of mistake," Frost said.

As for the off-kilter view of life found in the lyrics, "You write what you know and where you are," Cherniak said.

Deluxe Leisure King isn't exactly a high-pressure project. Two of the three members have buttoned-down, white-collar careers, and the band isn't maintaining a busy live schedule these days.

Despite that, it's managed to put out three albums in a town where it's a common complaint that a lot of bands never survive long enough to release their second.

Asked where this puts the band on its career arc, the members were typically self-deprecating. "Reduced for quick sale," said Cherniak. "Rapidly spoiling," amended Frost.

And yet, Frost said, there is a fundamental reason why they keep going. They're making the kind of music they like to hear, and they like to share.

"It's fun getting it out there," Frost said.

For sound samples and tour dates, visit myspace.com/deluxeleisureking. For "Deluxe Leisure King news and random rants about pop music and other nothing in particular," visit deluxeleisureking.blogspot.com.

"Miss Steak" is available locally at Satori Coffee in Mobile, Bay Sound in Daphne and Dr. Music in Fairhope. It is also available online through cdbaby
- Mobile Press Register

"...This is a solid album from start to finish, with lots of chiming guitars ... and a very strong likeness to the work of the mid-90s pop band Javelin Boot. That makes this one a keeper!" -- Eric Soreneson - Fufkin.com

"...the album certainly has a shot at finding listeners thanks to its buoyant, retro sound. The disc brims with echoes of the R.E.M. that once made music that college students played loud. And it's a somewhat more mature album than "15 Minutes," though the frequent irony in its lyrics never runs deep enough interfere with the overall sense of fun. "

- Lawrence Specker, Mobile Register
- The Mobile Register

One of Mobile’s favorite power pop groups is back with a new album. Deluxe Leisure King has released their latest album "Debbie Does Nothing." This album title has to be one of my most favorites with cover art of a ‘50s era homemaker lazily gazing off into nothingness. It is the follow-up to their excellent 2004 release "15 Minutes of Shame."

Deluxe Leisure King is once again taking their listeners back to the days of early ‘90s college alternative in the tradition of bands like Hoodoo Gurus, The Lemonheads and The Connells. Each song is an admirably clean-sounding, bouncing frolic for the mind and body. With unique themes and philosophies portrayed in such songs as "Sticker On Your Car" and the album’s namesake "Debbie Does Nothing," this is an album for those of us there in the early days of Generation X. You can find this one locally at Dr. Music in Fairhope and at Satori Coffee and Sound in WeMo as well as online at iTunes, CD Baby and Amazon.

-Stephen Centani

- Lagniappe

"15 Minutes of Shame" is the #5 Editors Pick in Jangle Pop - CD Baby.com

Deluxe Leisure King has just finished putting the final touches on their soon to be released album. The public should be able to get their grubby little hands on it in late spring or early summer. Meanwhile, DLK is still garnishing attention overseas with their music.

”’Wanna Girl (Like That)’ has been getting some airplay in Australia and Spain,” explains guitarist Seth Cherniak. “There it is with the Spaniards again. They’re kooky for the jangle.” First Act guitars is also showing some guitar love to the Deluxe Leisure Kings through the company’s “First Act Emerging Artists” program. With their new album on the brink of release, it’s safe to say that the world will be hearing a lot more of DLK in the very near future.

-Stephen Centanni, Music Editor - Lagniappe

I have a soft spot for good power pop. Melodic guitar-based rock and roll that is a tip of the hat to the Beatles and the Byrds and always seems to put a smile on your face. Well Deluxe Leisure King certainly put a smile on my face, especially after listening to Wanna a Girl Like That. They have all the ingredients that I like in my power pop but most importantly they have that wonderful melodic harmonizing backing vocals that give me goose bumps. Debbie Does Nothing is great and Helicopter reminds me of early R.E.M.

-Mark Boudreau
The Rock and Roll Report - rockandrollreport.com